All 'Round the Sun
by tanglingshadows
Summary: Everything they knew was gone, and the people they cared about were scattered. There weren't many guarantees in life outside the prison, but the one truth they knew was there wasn't a thing that would come between them now. Bethyl pairing. AU after mid-season finale. (Previously Claimed)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own The Walking Dead or any of the characters.

Thanks to AMC's marathon, I binge watched the entire series of TWD and got caught up two weeks ago.

I've learned in that time that I'm a big Bethyl shipper! This is my first attempt at TWD fic, so I'd love to know your thoughts!

I haven't consulted my trusty beta for this fic (Jen328) so all mistakes are mine.

I hope to update at least twice a week, maybe more, depending on writing time.

* * *

She heard footsteps and turned to see him striding toward her. Relief overtook her body, and she felt like she could breath again.

Beth looked him over quickly and thanked God that there were no visible injuries. When she met his eyes again, she paused at the look on his face then a rush of adrenaline shot through her chest. She'd only seen that look once before, and she prayed it meant he was about to do what she thought he would.

His hands slid up her arms, across her collarbones, and settled on each side of her face. Beth's heart skipped as he leaned forward softly brushing his lips against hers before meeting them again in a punishing kiss. She froze for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and letting her fingers tangle in his hair, pulling softly.

This kiss wasn't at all like the one they'd shared a couple of weeks ago. That one had been hesitant and a little shy, especially since she instigated it. This kiss was brutal and rough. His lips slanted against hers, and he pushed his tongue into her mouth, groaning when she met him with the same force.

When he started to pull back, she lightly bit his bottom lip before giggling softly.

Daryl's intense blue eyes locked her in place, and she expected declarations of love or something equally heartwarming, but the single word that came out of his mouth confused her. She tilted her head to the side as he turned around and that confusion disappeared as she came face-to-face with a group of men that Merle Dixon would have felt at home with.

Daryl said it louder this time, pushing her behind him. "Claimed."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own The Walking Dead or any of the characters.

Thank you Jen328 for editing this. You're absolutely amazing to me!

Also, thank you to all those who reviewed the prologue. I hope you like this chapter, too!

* * *

"Tell me somethin' about your childhood." Her steps had become lighter since he'd met her. As they moved through the dense woods, he realized she was almost as quiet as he was now.

"It sucked," Daryl answered without much thought as he listened to the shuffling footsteps that signaled a walker's approach.

Beth sighed and stepped over a small tree that had fallen in the most recent storm. "Obviously. Somethin' you've never told anyone before, Daryl."

He leaned against the nearest tree and signaled for her to stop walking. Beth immediately fell silent and seemed to blend back into the nearest tree. For a moment, he was proud at how she'd adapted, but then he shook that thought away as he slid the hunting knife out of its sheath on his hip.

It was colder now, and the walkers were slowing down, so it didn't have to time to get a full growl out before the blade pierced its eye and ended its second life.

"C'mon," he whispered. "Gotta find shelter." Daryl looked up at the sky and rolled his neck. Storm was coming, and he knew it was going to bring another cold front down on them. They needed a permanent place to stay or they were going to end up getting sick.

Beth nodded and took a few steps before he started following her. He allowed himself a moment of freedom to look at her as she scanned the area for any threats. The last few weeks had been hard on her, but she was still beautiful. She was strong and capable. He wasn't sure when his view of her had changed. Daryl had watched her from afar since he'd met her at the farm, but he hadn't really _seen _her until after he'd brought Merle back to the prison. After that, he noticed everything she did and let himself nurture a little bit of affection for her because of it.

She was an invaluable member of the group, even if she didn't realize it. He admired her kindness to the smaller children that were placed in her care, and how she made a home for all of them, prepared food, washed clothes, took fence duty and laid waste to walkers with her piece of rebar.

Somewhere along the way, she'd turned into an amazing woman.

Hershel had seen his interest, too, but Daryl had brushed off his one attempt to bring it up. Now, he wished he hadn't.

He couldn't deny the rush of relief he'd felt when he found her among the chaos of the prison walls, and he didn't hesitate to drag her along behind him as he sought their escape.

Deep down, he knew he shouldn't give in and voice his interest in her. She deserved better than some asshole redneck.

"We're good. Let's try this way." Her voice reminded him of where they were, and he took the lead.

No good could come from dwelling on that, so he focused on the forest around them, keeping a close eye out for anything that could cause her harm.

A while later, they happened upon a small creek and chose to follow it instead of cross it. They were rewarded for that decision when the sun began to set and a small hunting cabin came into view.

"Thank ya, Jesus," she whispered and sighed. "Please, jus' keep the walkers away, Daryl."

He barked out a laugh and circled the cabin. "Jesus gets the thanks, but I gotta do the hard part."

"Don't talk like that. Ya know I don't like it," she said softly over his shoulder.

He shivered as her breath tickled his neck but blamed it on the chilly wind that had picked up around them.

They walked up the porch steps, and Daryl knocked lightly on the cabin door. After waiting a few seconds and hearing no sounds from inside, he opened the door slowly. It was a huge single room with a bed along one wall and a sink, cabinets, and wood burning stove along the other. There was a dusty bookshelf full of dingy paperbacks and a table with a couple of chairs.

He spotted the door in the back corner and walked silently across the wood floor before throwing it open. No walkers. Just a tiny shower and a toilet. Chances were it ran off a well this far out... or maybe the creek. They might not have hot water, but it was better than nothing.

"Stay here, y'hear me?" Beth glanced his way from the bookshelf. "I'ma go hunting, maybe find us some meat for dinner. Ya get some wood off the porch and bring it in here. That way when it rains, it'll be dry and we can have a fire."

"I got it." She stepped over and touched his arm as he passed; her fingertips felt like fire on his bicep. "Be safe."

"Ain't no other way to be out there."

As Daryl took off through the woods, he could hear her start to softly sing as she gathered up some firewood.

* * *

Beth found some canned food in one of the cabinets and set it all out on the table. They had enough to last them a few days, but they'd need to make a run if they intended to stay here over the cold months coming.

She knew that's what Daryl would want to do, but he wouldn't want to voice it yet, either. He was handling her with kid gloves most of the time, afraid she'd break down at any moment. What he didn't know was the first time he'd gone on a hunt by himself—about a week after the prison fell—Beth had huddled under a tree and cried her eyes out.

She mourned her father, who had been struck down so callously. She grieved for her sister and Glenn, thinking it was very possible she'd never see them again. Finally, she cried for her friends and sweet baby Judith. She prayed every night that they got out and were together somewhere, making their way to another safe haven.

Daryl explained early on that they couldn't go back to track them. With all the foot prints and walkers, it would be damn near impossible to track them from the prison, he'd said. Their best bet was to search in the towns where they scavenged.

Weeks later and a few towns scavenged, and they'd yet to find a lead.

She looked out the single window over the sink and saw his approach. He didn't have any game on his belt and he looked agitated, which meant he'd be surly when he came indoors.

She huffed out a breath and shook her head. Her feelings for Daryl had taken a slight turn over the last few months. She thought it was a silly crush that would pass, but the more time she spent listening to him talk or watching him around the others, the worse it had gotten. Daryl was everything she wanted in a man. He was loyal, strong, and deep down, he was kind. Her daddy had tried to talk to her about her obvious staring the day before the prison fell, but she'd blushed and mumbled that there was nothing to talk about.

Beth was a great big liar. In the last few weeks, she'd been up close and personal with Daryl, and she was surer of her desire for him than ever before.

She pushed that all away as Daryl opened the door, looked at the fire she'd started and the food on the table, and grumbled to himself. Beth rolled her eyes and went back to searching the little cabin for anything they could use.

She found an old pot under the sink and wiped it with the rag that had been in another drawer. Daryl slouched in front of the fire, chewing on his thumbnail and maintaining his usual air of casual disinterest.

"No luck with the bow, then?" she asked as she picked up a can of purple hull peas and the can opener. Based on the last few weeks, she knew Daryl preferred these over everything else besides canned peaches.

"The hell ya think," he mumbled and let his hand fall to his lap. " 'Course everything's done gone to ground with the fuckin' weather. Couldn't even find a walker track out there. Buncha bullshit."

"It'll clear up." She dumped the peas into the pot and set them on top of the stove. She wasn't entirely sure how to get the burners to work, but the metal was hot enough as it was.

"No shit, but will it clear up 'fore we starve? We ain't got much left 'ere." He waved his hand to their cache of food. "Ya cain't afford to lose many more meals. Seen walkers with more meat on their bones than ya, Beth."

"You're such a charmer." She tossed him a plastic bowl and spoon they'd found days earlier. "Eat your peas and stop bein' such downer."

Beth could feel his glare on her back as she retrieved her own bowl.

"Why ya such a pain in my ass? In case ya missed it, we're in the middle a'nowhere and winter's comin' on. You're sittin' over there, actin' like we ain't got a care in the world. Fuckin' family's gone and you're makin' peas."

She knew that lashing out was his means of self-defense, but if he thought she was just going to let him walk all over her and be the quiet little miss she used to be, he was mistaken. Her life had gone to hell in last year—and more so in the last month. Plus, she knew that Daryl felt guilty every time he snapped at her.

She slammed her hands on the table and leaned toward him. Daryl's eyes went wide for a brief second before he schooled his features.

"Now, ya listen to me, Daryl Dixon. I've had about enough of your shit." His eyes narrowed as she continued. "Things are awful, I grant ya that, but we're still here. We can still survive this. I don't need ya to remind me that my family's gone. I'm well aware I prolly won't see Maggie again, and if ya don't recall, I was there to witness my daddy be murdered.

We can work together and be a little happy, or I can sing and ya can sulk and think I'm aggravatin'. Don't matter to me, but I refuse to live what's left of my life under a dark cloud."

Daryl swallowed hard and looked away. "I don't know what to do," he said quietly.

She rounded the table and kneeled at his feet. After debating for a moment, she placed both hands on his knees and squeezed softly.

"Daryl, we're gonna figure this out. We'll find a map. There's gotta be one here, and we'll go and find a truck and make a couple of runs t'get stocked up. We just gotta have a little faith is all."

"I'm all outta that, princess."

Beth sighed and stood up. "Ya know I absolutely hate when ya call me that."

She spooned food into their bowls and took the other chair. They ate in silence, Beth thinking of a way to bring Daryl out of his depressed state, and Daryl staring at the fire, lost in his own thoughts.

Beth stood and tried the tap at the sink, surprised when cool water spilled out. With a small smile, she cleaned her bowl and put it back in her bag, just in case.

* * *

Daryl watched as she picked up the loose ends around the room and made sure their bags were packed and secure in case they needed to leave in a hurry. The sun had set earlier, and while he moped, she'd created a safe place for them just like she always did.

She found a hammer and some nails in a drawer and put a blanket over the large window that looked out on the porch. Then she nailed a thick sheet over the window by the sink. Beth pulled back the covers on the bed and shook them out, moved a small kerosene lantern to one bedside table, and then put her own buck knife beside it.

"I'm gonna take a shower before the storm comes in," she said, picking up a somewhat cleaner shirt, sweatpants, and the lantern.

He nodded and waited until she was inside the small bathroom before he stood and checked the locks on both windows and the door. He wedged a chair under the door handle, but knew it wouldn't keep out walkers if there were a lot of them. Still, it offered a little bit more security than before.

Daryl scratched the scruff on his jaw and looked toward the bathroom door.

All that mattered now was protecting her.

She said they needed to have faith, and he didn't lie when he said he was all out of it. He'd seen terrible things over the last few years and he wasn't so sure there was a God to have faith in, but he could try and make the best of it for her.

* * *

After they'd both cleaned up and the storm started coming down full force outside, Daryl added more wood to the fire and tried not to pay attention as Beth got under the covers in the bed across the room from him.

The past few weeks they'd slept in trees or on the ground. Once they'd stayed in the trunk of an abandoned car, but they'd never shared a bed.

"I'll sleep by the door." He started to reach for the extra pillow, but she grabbed his hand.

"Just lay down with me, Daryl."

He caught her stare and was overwhelmed by the shy trust that he saw there.

"Prolly not the best idea," he said gruffly.

Beth tugged his arm and laughed quietly. "It's a great idea. Just take your boots off. Let's not get our new bed filthy."

Daryl nodded, not wanting to say no anyway, and toed his boots off before sliding under the blankets beside her.

Instead of rolling away, like he thought she would, she curled around him, one arm around his waist and a leg thrown over his thigh.

"Stop thinkin'," she spoke quietly. "Nothin' about this is wrong."

He should have argued with her, but she made him warm and sleepy, so he just wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her closer.

He'd worry about it tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own The Walking Dead or any of the characters.

Thank you Jen328 for editing this. You're amazing, Yoda!

Thank you to all who reviewed! I'm so glad that y'all are liking it.

* * *

Daryl slipped out of bed early the following morning and sat on one of the wooden chairs near the table. He didn't mean to, but he watched Beth sleep for a little while, wondering what he'd gotten into. He kept telling himself she was just being Beth. She didn't really care about him in _that_ way; she was naturally affectionate.

_He could hear Merle's voice in his head. "__It could have been anybody she cuddled around last night. You were just the one she was with, dipshit."_

No, it couldn't have been anyone, he thought to himself. Just the image of her curled around another man made his blood boil.

There was something there between them, and he was sure her feelings matched his own. Things just needed to be more settled before he brought it up.

Daryl walked outside for a moment to clear his head and check the area after the storm. No tracks, human or walker, were around the cabin, so he went back inside to start looking for a map.

It didn't take him long to locate the worn-out map used by the previous owner, and he barked out a laugh when he realized the man who owned the cabin had actually put a star over their position in the woods.

To busy feeling relieved over their good luck, he didn't notice Beth had woken up and was peeking over at him.

"I guess you finally lost your mind?" She pulled the blanket over her head and groaned.

"Found a map and I know where we are, smart-ass."

Her head popped out from under the blanket, and she gave him a blinding smile. "Not too far from a town?"

Daryl cleared his throat and looked away from her wild hair and sleep-reddened cheeks. He couldn't push away the happiness he felt when she looked at him.

"Naw, about seven miles. We'll go south and hit tha road in 'bout twenty minutes. We need t'find a truck, and we'll drive tha rest of tha way."

As he spoke, she had walked over to the table and leaned over his shoulder. Her blonde hair brushed against his jaw and made his stomach clench.

"Think there are many walkers?"

"Ain't no way of knowin' for sure, but we'll head out like we're gonna face a herd. No use takin' chances and hopin' the cold will slow 'em down too much."

She hummed in response and traced her finger over the star.

"Do ya know where tha prison is?" Her voice was barely audible.

Daryl reached out and took her hand from the map, squeezing it gently.

"Good ways from it now."

"Do ya think we're the only ones left?"

He'd never lied to comfort someone before, and he didn't want to start with Beth. But he didn't want to cause her pain, either.

"Don't know."

Beth took her hand from his grasp, placed it on his shoulder, and leaned her forehead to the top of his head.

"I like to pretend they got out, and we'll see 'em in some random town on a run." She let out a shaky sigh before she straightened. "When are we goin'?"

"Today. The town we're goin' to is small, prolly gonna have to go through houses to find stuff."

Beth walked around the table to the other chair and took a seat. "We need to make a list of necessities like we did when we were at the prison. You'll be in charge of one list, and I'll take tha other."

"We ain't splitting up out there, Beth." His words were sharp even though his voice was quiet. "We'll make lists, but I'll be damned if you're gettin' outta my sight."

Daryl looked down at the map, embarrassed at his outburst. The fact was, he couldn't imagine what his life would be like without her there with him. There was no telling if they'd ever meet up with anyone again, and she was his responsibility. Not because he felt obligated to look out for her but because he cared about her.

"You'll handle all the manly things, right, like tools and weapons? I'll search out the comfort items and medicine?" There was humor in her voice as she tried to mimic his drawl. "We'll both look for food, though."

"I don't sound like that," he grumbled, smiling a little. "You wanna find the ammo by all means, princess. I just prefer it if you'd play nurse."

He could feel the tips of his ears burning as her jaw dropped. Then she started giggling and put her head on the table, shielding her own blushing cheeks from him. Daryl stood up quickly and walked to the door, grabbing his crossbow as he went.

"I'ma go and look at the trees around here. See if I can make a fence using them and some barbed wire. Make your list, and we'll leave when I'm done."

He couldn't hear her response, not that he wanted to anyway.

* * *

Beth watched him walk the perimeter for a minute before she searched for some paper. She didn't want to make a big deal out of his comment. It was said jokingly, and she knew how embarrassed he was, but the way his eyes widened and his face grew red was too priceless. It wasn't often she got to see Daryl so flustered, so when he was carefree, her heart felt lighter.

It was those little moments that made her feel like maybe, one day, he could let himself be with her.

With a smile on her face, she started her search for something to write on. She couldn't find any plain paper, but she hadn't expected to, so she tore a sheet from one the books on the shelf and used the pencil that Daryl had found with the map.

She'd made lists like this before, but the items would be different this time. At the prison, she'd only been responsible for the baby. Now she no longer needed formula or baby things for Judith. That realization made her a sad, but she remembered that while she didn't have a baby to look after, she had a grown man who'd rather eat with his fingers than a fork. Maybe it wasn't such a drastic change.

It took twenty minutes of thinking and writing before she felt that she'd made a complete list. She had written down different kinds of medicine that might come in handy, necessary personal items, and lastly, luxury items that she would snag if they had the space and the time.

She spent the next few minutes emptying their bags for the new items they would be searching for. She left a couple of cans of food, the can opener, iodine drops, and matches in each bag just in case they couldn't return to the cabin right away.

As if he could sense she was finished, Daryl walked into the cabin, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder.

"No time like tha present," he mumbled before picking up his almost-empty backpack.

Beth nodded and silently looked around the cabin, praying they'd make it back and have some peace for a little while.

He took the map off the table and briefly looked it over before folding it into a neat square and stuffing it into his back pocket.

"Got your knife?" Daryl asked as they exited the cabin and took off toward the woods.

"Yup."

"Ya ready to use it if ya got to?"

Beth huffed and looked away. He knew what she was capable of. Obviously that wasn't the answer he was looking for because he stopped quickly and yanked her arm to turn her toward him.

Beth was caught off guard by the cold fear in his eyes and leaned away from him. "I don't mean walkers, Beth. Ya know they ain't the only bad thang out here. Someone comes at ya, tries to grab ya? Make 'em pay for it, ya hear?"

"Yes," she whispered and placed a hand over his on her arm. "I won't let 'em take me without a fight, Daryl."

He nodded sharply once and let go, and they resumed their path through the woods.

* * *

Daryl breathed a sigh of relief when they finally spotted the road. It turned out to be about a thirty-minute walk from the cabin, which meant they'd have easy access to towns yet be far enough away that not many people would venture out and happen upon their cabin.

They might not have many walkers that far out either, he thought with a quick flush of relief.

"Do we stay to the woods or get on the road now?" Beth's quiet question broke him out of his thoughts, and he turned her way. He hadn't meant to scare her earlier, but he knew what kind of people lay out there in this new world. He remembered vividly what Randall had described under his interrogation, and there was no way that would happen to Beth.

He'd tear apart the state to find her, and God help the person who laid their hands on her.

"The woods," he answered. "Don't wanna be out in tha open yet."

They walked in silence again for a few minutes before Beth spoke. "Ya never did tell me anythin' from when you was a boy. I didn't forget, Daryl."

He smiled in spite of himself and shook his head. They'd been quiet since he let go of her arm earlier, and he could tell she was trying to stay that way. For the life of him, he didn't know why she always wanted to talk to him. She wanted his stories and jokes, and in return, she'd smile and share something about herself or her family. It was nice. Natural.

Then she'd go and bring up his childhood and he'd snap at her. He hated doing that, but it was second nature to him.

"How'd ya learn to ride a horse?" she asked when she was done waiting for him to answer himself.

Daryl tried to concentrate of the color of the leaves under his boots instead of hearing his voice answer. "Grandaddy had horses. I learned from him."

He didn't need to see her face to know she felt like she'd won a battle and was grinning ear-to-ear.

"That sounds nice. Did ya spend a lotta time with him?"

His grip on the strap of his crossbow tightened, and he nodded. "Died when I was about eight, though."

Beth placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and whispered, "I'm so sorry."

He shook her off and picked up the pace, looking desperately for a truck along the road so they could get out of these woods and out of this conversation. Anything about growing up made him feel like his skin was too tight.

"Did ya get to keep tha horses?"

The question was completely innocent, but she went too far for him, and his voice took on a hard edge as he said, "He wasn't cold in tha ground before my old man sold everythin' and lost tha money as fast as he got it. Fuckin' bastard."

Beth opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before looking at the ground.

"I'm done talkin' right now."

She followed silently for almost a mile before she spoke. "I had this beautiful palomino pony, Daryl." He glanced her way but didn't say a word. "My momma found her for me, and she was my tenth birthday present. I adored that horse."

He saw her swipe under eyes, but her voice didn't crack once as she told the rest of her story.

"When I was twelve, Momma died. Daddy went a little crazy, I guess. Started drinkin' all tha time. Maggie was sixteen, and she took care of us. Made dinner, got us to school, paid bills if she could find the checkbook.

"One day, I got home from school, and my horse wasn't in tha pasture. I ran to tha barn, lookin' everywhere for her, but I couldn't find 'er anywhere. I found out later that evenin' that daddy sold her. He had a full liquor cabinet for awhile after that."

Daryl just shook his head. The Hershel he knew was a good man who'd paid his dues and suffered. He'd never thought about how Maggie and Beth had been affected during all that time. His chest ached for her, and he wished he had something to say that would make her happy again, but the truth was he didn't.

Shitty things happened sometimes. Parents failed their children more often than not. He was living proof, and so was Beth. Only difference was Hershel had changed. He'd become a better man and worked to mend his family.

Daryl's daddy had never thought about anyone but himself.

He was thankful when he spotted a truck just off the side of the road. They moved closer to it and could see the passenger door hanging open and the remains of a body in the ditch. Whoever it was wasn't getting back up, though.

It was a decent-size truck with a big bed and a dented up toolbox attached. Four-wheel drive and mud tires, too. If he could get it running, it would suit their purposes well.

Once they made sure that no walkers were lurking inside the cab, Daryl told Beth to climb in and look for keys as he searched the ground near what was left of the previous owner.

"Got 'em!"

He turned to see Beth holding up her prize.

"Prolly oughta check out the toolbox," he said as he took the keys from her. "See what we can get here, maybe throw out what we don't need."

Beth nodded, and they both climbed into the bed of the truck.

"Keep an eye out for us."

"Ya got it." She tried to pull his bow off his shoulder.

"What tha hell ya think your doin'?" He laughed as he let her take it.

"Lookin' like a threat." She got all sassy with him before turning around and looking out at the road.

"Ya liable to shoot yaself before ya shoot someone else."

"They don't know that."

He laughed, his dark mood lessening with the smile on her face and the discovery of the truck.

His laughter died in throat as he turned the lock on the toolbox and the springs caused it to rise.

"Holy shit," he said in a rush before backing into Beth and knocking her off balance.

"What?"

She turned suddenly, aiming the crossbow in the direction of the toolbox.

They both stared in shock as the child, no more than five, stood from the shiny silver box.

There were no visible bite marks on its skin, but it was skinnier than any child had the right to be. Neither of them moved as it tried repeatedly to walk from the box but couldn't, as it didn't realize it needed to step over the edge to get out.

Its growls pierced the air, and Beth choked back a sob next to him.

"They tried to save her," she gasped. "They locked her up to save her." This time a tear escaped, and she handed the crossbow back to Daryl. "What do we do?"

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked at what was once a child, but was now something else, something wrong.

"We put her out of her sufferin' and we bury 'er." Daryl's voice was barely audible as he raised his bow and took aim. "Sorry, babydoll."

After he lowered his bow, Beth wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. Daryl didn't even hear the noise the bow made as it hit the metal of the truck bed. He just encircled Beth with his arms and squeezed as tight as he dared.


	4. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own The Walking Dead or any of the characters.

Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm sorry that I wasn't able to respond this week. My daughter is acting as the flower girl for my cousin-in-law's wedding today, so we've been running around trying to get all the final touches.

Thank you, Jen328 for editing this! You're simply wonderful!

* * *

The trip into town was silent after they'd moved the little girl's body.

Beth hadn't seen Daryl so stoic since he'd come back to the prison after having killed Merle. She wasn't sure what to say to bring him out of it—or if she even could. Her heart was broken.

She'd never seen a walker that young, and she and Daryl had discovered very quickly that their perfect truck was broken down and they wouldn't be able to use it. Beth wondered if the child's parents had locked her in the toolbox and tried to lead the walkers away, but just never made it back, or maybe she died, and they couldn't bring themselves to finish her off.

She shook her head and looked out the window of the small sedan they'd found a little further down the road. It wasn't as big as they wanted, but it would work until they found something else. Mostly, they just wanted to be far away from that truck and the little girl they'd had to bury under a pile of leaves because they didn't have a shovel or time to spare.

They passed the Welcome to Abbot sign, and she sat up straighter. The town was small—didn't even have a stoplight—but they spotted a hardware store just off the town square.

"We'll get our barbed wire first," Daryl said quietly. "Protecting tha cabin is the most important thang besides food."

Inside, the store was quiet. It had been ransacked long ago and there wasn't much left. There certainly weren't any walkers around because the whole building was just a bit bigger than their cabin. It didn't even have a back exit.

As she kept watch, Daryl found two spindles of barbed wire and some thick nails.

"Look for a hammer," he whispered as he moved to the next aisle.

Beth started scouring the shelves and even under them but didn't see one. By the time they met at the front of the store, Daryl's bag was full of things he thought they'd need.

"Got some stuff for some traps and some hooks so I can bar tha door to the cabin," he said as they popped open the trunk. "I saw a sign that says they got wood in the back. We're gonna get some to board up tha windows and for tha door."

"I didn't find a hammer." She reached behind her back. "I did find this though." Beth held up the loaded pistol and smiled.

"I imagine one of these houses has a hammer." He pointed to the row of homes on either side of the road behind him. "We'll go through them next."

He hugged her quickly. "Damn good job on finding that gun."

Beth thought it was odd that they hadn't see any walkers since entering the town, but she wasn't going to question it too much. She'd be happy to not see another walker for a while after what had happened earlier.

Once Daryl loaded the boards into the trunk and added some chain he'd found, he gestured to the first house on their left.

"I got tha manly things." He pointed and smirked. "Let's go get your list."

She was happy for the change in mood and tried to push those unpleasant thoughts away, at least until they were safe back in their cabin.

"Food, warm clothes, medicine." Beth listed her needs with a purpose she hadn't had since the prison fell. "We need as much of it as we can get. Blankets, too."

"Let's get to it then. Ain't got all day."

The first two houses were a bust on the food front, but they managed to snag at least five blankets out of a hall closet and two nice pillows to go with them. Beth almost left the pillows, but Daryl just shrugged and threw them in the garbage sack he'd found in the kitchen.

"Might as well. Ain't no one here gonna use 'em."

With that thought in mind, Beth gave in and pulled the pretty comforter off the bed, too.

"What?" she asked when he snorted. "Like you said, no one here's gonna use it."

The third house had several items on the list, including antibiotics in one of the medicine cabinets and over-the-counter painkillers. The pantry had nearly twenty cans of food of which they hauled all out to the car in a large garbage sack.

"This shit's too good to be true," Daryl grunted as he tossed the heavy sack into the trunk. "We ain't hittin' another house here."

"What? Why?" Beth could feel her forehead scrunch up in confusion. "Tha next house could have better stuff!"

He slammed the trunk and leaned back against it. Beth watched as he chewed on his thumbnail and sighed, as if trying to find the words to explain something complex to her. Finally, he just broke it down in his own way.

"That next house? Yeah, it'll be stocked full of shit we need and tha one after that? Damn near treasure chest, I'm guessin'. But I guaran-damn-tee you, Beth, tha following house or the next will be full of people we don't wanna meet."

Her shoulders slumped. "What in the world… Daryl, that's tha most underhanded thing I've ever heard."

He pushed off the trunk and started walking through the yard to the next house. When he got to the porch, he reached above his head and yanked down a portion of fishing line that had been concealed in space over the door.

"This here? This is lettin' 'em know how far we've come. There's been one on every door we went into. Ya just didn't notice."

Beth's eyes followed the near translucent string to the tree in front of the house and then saw where it trailed down the street through the other trees. He was right, it was clearly a warning sign for someone down the way, and she felt a rush of humiliation that she hadn't paid enough attention to her surroundings.

"Ain't I a waste of space?" She muttered to herself and opened the passenger door to get in.

They drove toward the town square again, and Beth asked, "How do ya know they were bad people?"

Daryl just shrugged. "Don't. Just ain't willing to risk ya to find out."

* * *

They sat in silence for a moment at the stop sign to the main road. Daryl handed her the map. She seemed a little pale, but he figured with all the stuff she'd seen today, it was to be expected.

If it had just been him, he'd have snuck down the street to see what those assholes had in store for trespassers. But it wasn't just him, and he had risked enough going through three houses before pulling back.

Only reason he'd let them go into the third house was because he'd seen the line on the next house and figured they had time to get in and get out before anyone actually came looking.

Joke's on those dickheads_,_ he thought as he turned to the left. He made out with their supplies, and now they had to restock the first three houses. They probably had a decent stash, anyway, based on what he and Beth had found.

"Next town?" he asked as Beth looked over the map.

She cleared her throat and scanned the area. "Harden. It's about eight miles, I'd guess."

Harden proved to be a much better town to scavenge in. There was a grocery store right on the highway. Daryl immediately pulled in and parked far away from the door.

"Get your knife out and ready," he said as he loaded his crossbow. "Don't hesitate and stay close to me. I'll do the watchin', ya throw as much stuff as ya can into that bag. When it gets full, hand it to me and we'll leave them all by the door, got it?"

Her breaths were coming out in unsteady huffs as she nodded. Daryl reached out with his free hand and turned her to face him. Without much thought, he cupped her cheek and leaned down toward her. For a moment, her eyes went wide, and then her eyelashes fluttered before he pulled back a little bit.

"Everything's gonna be all right. I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to ya."

"I'm okay," she assured him before taking a steeling breath and started to walk toward the store.

Once inside, Daryl raised his bow and nodded for her to move forward. The smell wasn't as overwhelming as it should have been, considering all the rotten produce and meat, but the doors were wide open, so that must have helped.

They went down each aisle, Beth grabbing whatever she could find and Daryl listening for anything that moved. By the third aisle, she'd filled one bag with canned food and a second with woman things, different medicines that were left on the shelf, and random things she'd thought they'd need.

He was looking behind him when he heard a door whine open. Beth straightened up and stared toward the back corner where the noise came from.

"That bag too heavy for ya?" he whispered as he backed down the aisle.

"Naw, I got it." She wrapped the end around her foreman and lifted it up.

They kept their steps light as they came to the end of the aisle, but as they looked to the right, they knew their luck had run out.

Coming straight at them from the last aisle was a steady stream of walkers, growling and stumbling in their direction, the sudden appearance of a meal giving them new life as they lumbered forward.

"Run, Beth!" Daryl shouted over the noises and raised his bow. He lowered it before he shot, though. One arrow wasn't gonna make a damn bit of difference to the ones following them, and he needed all the arrows he could get.

They took off past the checkout counters, and the walkers followed as fast as they could but bottlenecked due to the narrow lanes.

It was those few moments that probably saved their lives, Daryl thought as he grabbed their bag of food by the door and took off for the car.

He watched as Beth ran a few paces ahead of him. She was struggling with her bag, but she'd get there. He threw his bag in the backseat, opened the driver's side door, and hopped in. Beth slammed the back door after dumping her bag inside and letting its contents spill over the backseat and floorboard.

"C'mon, woman!" Daryl yelled as the walkers got closer. They'd be on the car in a few seconds. He looked toward them, but Beth's scream caused him to jump and quickly looked toward the passenger window.

A walker he hadn't seen had her arm, but before he could even get out to do anything, the herd hit his door, blocking him in.

The next few seconds passed by so slowly as he felt his heart skip and watched as the walker gnashed his teeth and leaned for Beth's wrist at the same time as she put a blade through his skull.

Daryl couldn't breathe or think as she pushed the dead walker away with all her strength and then stumbled, opened the door, and slammed it shut as the walkers converged on her side of the car, too.

"Go!" she yelled as she hunched over in her seat before sobbing loudly.

He didn't need to be told twice. He cranked the engine and sped forward, clipping two walkers in the process.

"Ya bit?" he asked frantically as he pulled onto the highway, heading back in the direction of their cabin. When she didn't answer, he grabbed her shoulder with one hand and practically yelled, "Christ, answer me! Are ya bit, Beth?"

She turned toward him then, her face splattered with little flecks of black blood, her trembling hands coated with the stuff, as was her knife on the floor.

"I'm not bit. He didn't bite me. Oh my God, he almost got me, Daryl. Oh my God." Her breath was coming out far to fast, and he wanted to calm her down, but he needed to get away from Harden as fast as he could.

"Calm down, sweetheart." His voice was as relaxed as he could muster, given how fast his heart was beating. "Everything's okay. Ya took down that sonofabitch good. Ain't never been prouder of ya, baby."

If she noticed the tone of his voice or the terms of endearment he used, he couldn't tell. His gaze flicked between the road and Beth as he tried to ease his own panic. She was fine. No bites, no scratches, no cuts. She took down a walker, and they got their supplies.

Daryl took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out through his mouth before pressing the gas harder.

* * *

She wasn't sure how many times she'd washed her face or scrubbed her hands in the shower. All she knew was when she looked in the small mirror on the bathroom wall, her cheeks were raw.

Beth still shook a little, but she'd calmed down a lot since they got back. Daryl had sent her straight inside while he unloaded the car. It was after dark when they got back to the cabin because they'd had to push the car out of the mud three times when he drove it off road and into the woods.

He'd cursed up a storm about how he'd have to cover up the tracks in the morning but smirked when he pulled up to the cabin and told her to get inside and get cleaned up. "Ain't gonna share a bed when ya got walker blood all over ya."

Without a doubt, she knew he was trying to alleviate some of the tension caused by the attack, but she flushed anyway at the thought of him holding her again.

She walked out of the bathroom and saw all the bags and supplies in the middle of the floor as Daryl sorted through piles.

A chair was already stuck under the door and on the bed was the new comforter she'd taken from the house in Abbott, along with the extra pillows.

"Go on, lay down." He motioned her to the bed and kept sorting stuff.

She did as he said and curled up under the blankets.

Beth must have fallen asleep because the next time she woke up, Daryl's arm was around her waist and her back was to his bare chest. She gave a shuddering sigh and snuggled back against him.

Turns out even after the day they had, it wasn't hard to fall asleep when his arms were wrapped around her.


	5. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Disclaimer: I don't own TWD.

Thank you to everyone that reviewed last chapter, and big thank you to Jen328 who edited this for. She's just wonderful!

* * *

The next morning, Beth woke up first. As quietly as she could, she moved out from under Daryl's protective hold before tiptoeing to the bathroom. When she went back out to the main area of the cabin, she realized Daryl must not have gotten far into sorting things the night before.

Everything was still in piles on the floor. She made her way to the food cans and scanned them quickly before choosing pork and beans for breakfast and got the fire burning higher in the stove.

With Daryl still sound asleep in bed, she went through the medicine bag and started organizing it all on the table. They'd done really well yesterday, considering how it all ended. They wouldn't have to go out for food for at least a month, especially if Daryl could hunt some for them and they were able to gather enough warm clothes and blankets from the houses to keep them comfortable when it got colder.

She heard the floor creak softly before his arms encircled her waist and he leaned his forehead on her shoulder.

Beth didn't know what to say, but she knew that it would be best to not directly question the affection. Nothing would scare Daryl Dixon off faster than a direct question as to his motives. So she just enjoyed the feel of him around her and brought a hand to cover his on her stomach.

"Never been so scared in my life, Beth," he said against the skin of her neck, and she fought back the urge to shiver. "Can't lose you."

He pulled away slowly and let his calloused hands rest on her hips a moment before he walked to the chair where his shirt was hanging and shrugged it on.

She was sure she was blushing, but she stared anyway as he buttoned up the sleeveless flannel he wore all the time and put his vest and jacket over it.

The moment seemed heavy for some reason, and Beth knew this meant things had changed between them; even if it was in a little way, it still seemed big.

She didn't think twice; she walked to him, stood on her tiptoes, and softly brushed her lips against his before taking his top lip between her own.

Beth felt the subtle pressure of his lips against hers, but instead of deepening the kiss, he took a step back.

He stared at her for just a second, his blue eyes flashing with a dark intensity before he looked away.

She smiled in spite of his reaction and moved to the stove. Beth knew enough about Daryl to understand it wasn't rejection that made him move away; he just needed time to think. That man had too much going on in his head most of the time, and she was sure she just sent him into overload with that small kiss.

"Wanna eat a little somethin' before ya head out?" She asked sweetly, ignoring the fact that he was tying up his boots as quickly as he could. She'd hit his fightorflight button and thought it was a bit silly how she could do that to him. He always seemed so impenetrable.

"Naw, I need to take care of those tracks," he muttered.

She didn't beg him to stay. Instead, she grabbed a small Tupperware container she'd taken from the grocery store, poured his portion of food in it, and then sealed the lid.

"Take this at least." Beth held it out between them, not moving any closer.

Daryl took three hesitant steps toward her and let his fingers brush hers as he took the container from her hand.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Where's my spoon?"

Beth smiled as she saw one side of his mouth quirk up in a cute half-grin.

"Now ya and I both know ya don't eat with a spoon most of that time anyway. Ain't losing our utensils by sendin' 'em out in the woods with ya."

He laughed quietly and put his food in his pack. "Fair 'nough."

Daryl leaned against the open door for a moment, watching her move around the stove and table. Normally, she'd have felt self-conscious, but she really liked his eyes on her.

"Just stay in here, and I'll be back in a coupla hours."

Beth sat at the table with her food and smiled at him. "Don't worry about me. I ain't goin' anywhere today." He was almost out the door when she spoke again. "Take care of yaself, Daryl."

"Will do."

For the next few hours, Beth organized the food and medicine into the different cabinets and stacked all of Daryl's supplies from the hardware store on the table. She let her hand brush over the hammer he'd found in the first house's garage the day before. His self-satisfied smile when he held it up flashed through her mind and she laughed softly to herself.

She had it bad.

Around lunch time—at least she imagined it was lunch time—Daryl walked through the door, covered in mud and looking murderous.

"Ya okay?" She walked quickly over to him, but he raised his hand to warn her off.

"Fine."

"What happened?" Beth looked him up and down, stunned.

He grabbed his pack with his extra clothes and walked to the bathroom without answering her. Beth followed, ignoring his obvious aggravation.

"C'mon, what happened?" she asked again, this time a little more playfully.

As he was shutting the door, he faced her and shrugged. "I fell, okay?" His voice was colored with embarrassment.

Beth didn't like to make him feel self-conscious, so she just nodded. "I'll wash your clothes. Bring 'em out when you're done."

The door closed in her face, but she knew wasn't mad at her.

Now she'd do what she did best—take care of him.

* * *

It wasn't often that Daryl found himself flat on his ass and the few times it had happened, it hadn't been his fault. At that moment though, that's exactly where he found himself.

He lay there for minute and stared at the clear, blue sky through the trees above his head. For a moment, it was peaceful, and he could imagine he'd just been walking through the woods on a hunt.

It wasn't, though, and he found himself gently rubbing two fingers across his top lip and smiling to himself.

She'd made the first move, and he was equal parts stunned and scared. It just proved he was right about her feelings for him, and that meant he'd need to try and push her away to keep her at arms' length.

He wasn't a ladies' man by any means, but his relationships thus far had been few, far between, and one-time deals. He didn't like anyone—especially women—to see his back, so dark, drunken encounters were the norm.

Daryl picked himself off the ground and purposely focused on anything else but him and Beth in bed.

Another half hour went by and he was satisfied with the covering up he'd done, so he made his way back to the cabin. He was going to get cleaned up and then go out hunting. Beth needed something more substantial than a can of beans for dinner, and truthfully, so did he.

Deer season was upon them, and he crossed his fingers that he'd kill one soon.

He avoided Beth's questions as best he could, showered, and put on a fresh set of clothes before looking at the supplies on the table. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about fortifying the cabin. His head was a mess. He knew getting out in the woods and hunting would clear it up a bit, but he couldn't leave Beth unprotected, so it would have to wait.

"I'm gonna fence up tha yard first. It's gonna take tha most time."

She looked up from the sink where she was cleaning off his jacket as gently as she could. "Do ya need any help?"

Daryl shook his head and picked up the barbed wire and thick work gloves off the table. "Naw, baby, I got it." He closed his eyes briefly at his slip before putting the hammer and some bracket nails in his pocket.

"Okay. If ya change your mind, ya know where to find me," Beth said as she continued cleaning the dried mud off his clothes. "I'm gonna go to the creek in a minute to wash out your jeans."

"Take your knife."

He was out the door before he heard her response.

Maybe he just needed to work himself ragged so his mind would quit spinning.

She watched him out the window over the sink as he cursed and pulled the barbed wire as tight as he could around the trees. He started about chest high and double wrapped it around each tree trunk before putting bracket nails in to hold it down.

Daryl seemed to get the hang of it pretty fast, and soon he was nearly halfway around the cabin.

Beth picked up his dirty jeans and a bar of laundry soap she'd taken from the grocery store before the walkers had shown up, and made her way out of the cabin toward the creek. He paused when she appeared but quickly went back to his work.

After having a few hours to herself earlier, she'd decided she'd let him work things out in his own time before attempting any more kisses. She loved when he touched her or hugged her to him or even called her something sweet without realizing it.

Things might be moving forward a bit slowly, but that was fine. Out here in the cabin, she actually felt like they had time to work through it.

The cold water was a shock to her hands as she dunked the material of his jeans in the creek. As she held them under and scrubbed, she turned her head around to watch as he started the second row of their fence.

It was going to be a pretty substantial barrier, especially with the trees acting as the posts. As long as they checked it daily to keep it tight, it would hold up against the walkers. Maybe if a few got stuck, she and Daryl could stab them in the head and leave them around the area.

She knew the smell of walker blood and dead walkers masked humans, so it wasn't a bad idea. Beth decided she'd mention it to Daryl later, but she was pretty sure he'd already thought of it. He always seemed a few paces ahead of everyone else when it came to surviving.

After she had gotten rid of all the dirt on his jeans, she grabbed her soap and started back to the cabin, crawling under the third level of barbed wire that came to her knees.

"I'ma do one more around tha top," he told her as he nailed down another section of wire to the tree near her. "I don't wanna go too low, though, 'cause we need to get in and out fast, and walkers are too stupid to go under anyway."

"Good with me." She pushed against a section of the fence and smiled at him. "Ya made this pretty strong. I think it'll keep 'em out."

She could swear he blushed a little, but she didn't draw attention to it. Beth just walked forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, making sure to keep his wet pants away from his back.

"Thank ya," she whispered before pulling back.

A mumbled "You're welcome" was all she heard before she started toward the cabin.

She was almost up the steps when he called out to her.

"Thank ya, too. Ya know"—he nodded toward the jeans in her hands—"for taking care of my mess. Ya didn't have to."

Beth just bit her bottom lip to hide her smile before she shook her head. "I like takin' care of ya, Daryl."

He didn't respond, but he also didn't take his eyes off of her until the door shut and she was out of sight.

* * *

Later that night, after he'd boarded up the main window on the outside and the inside, as well as nailed the hooks into the door to support the wood beams meant to add more support if walkers got that far, he put away all the supplies he'd taken from the hardware store. Beth had set aside two cabinets for his haul, and he was hit again with how thoughtful she was when it came to him.

Beth had lain down for the night a several minutes before, and without much thought, he stripped out of his flannel button up and dropped his jeans across the chair near his side of the bed.

Like the night before, she'd fallen asleep quickly, so he scooted behind her, completely ignoring the jumbled thoughts that told him not to, and pulled her to his chest.

If this was his reward for all the things he'd done since this shit had happened, he wasn't going to question it. Daryl wasn't giving in fully yet, but he allowed himself this little bit of peace each night, wrapped around Beth.

He knew it was just a matter of time before he gave in completely, and as he drifted off to sleep, he found that thought didn't bother him at all.

* * *

****Quick question: When I posted this, I chose the title "Claimed" on a bit of an impulse. Mostly because I was afraid I'd chicken out of posting the story unless I did it right then. Would any of you mind if I changed the title of the story? The title that it has in my mind, since about Ch. 2 is "All Around the Sun" taken from the Neutral Milk Hotel song, "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea". Go have a listen!


	6. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you to Jen328 for editing this (I heart you!) and all of you who've reviewed this story!

* * *

Beth wasn't surprised to wake up and find Daryl gone the next morning. He'd taken care of fortifying the cabin, so she figured he'd finally gone to hunt.

She prayed he'd find something. They'd both lost a lot of weight since they'd been on the run and desperately needed meat in their diet. Beth wished there was some way to preserve it to last for longer than a couple of days, but if there was, she didn't know how to do it and neither did Daryl. If he did, they'd have saved at the prison when they had extra.

As she sat at the table, eating some leftover beans from the night before, she felt odd. There wasn't anything for her to do today. She'd already put everything away as best she could the day before, and she'd straightened up the bed as soon as she woke up.

Maybe she could wash some clothes?

She sighed and finished eating. At the prison, there was always something to do, and most of her time was spent caring for Judith. Beth thought about her sweet grins, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"No use thinkin' of that." She swiped the wetness off her cheeks and stood up.

After she cleaned out her bowl, she gathered up clothes. Her undergarments were in desperate need of a wash, and the two shirts she had left since leaving the prison were never going to be truly clean again, but she was going to wash them anyway.

She picked up a few of Daryl's things as well before heading to the creek.

As she dumped all the clothes over the barbed wire fence, she decided that the next time they made a run, she was going to hunt down a laundry basket. Hauling around wet, cold clothes wasn't going to be fun, and tossing them in the leaves to get back inside the fence was just going to make her mad after she'd scrubbed them.

With that thought, she ran back to the cabin and brought back a garbage sack. It might not have been a basket, but at least it would keep her clean clothes from getting thrown in the dirt.

At the edge of the creek, Beth kneeled down with the clothes beside her. It would take her some time to get through all of them, and she was glad to have her hands busy.

The water almost lulled her into a trance, and she thought of her father and how he always requested her to sing when he was feeling down. Without making a conscience decision, she began to sing his favorite songs.

* * *

Daryl knew she hadn't heard him approach, so he just sat down at the base of the nearest tree and listened. For a moment, he didn't worry about skinning his kill or what their next move would be. He just leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.

Truth was, he never felt more at peace than when he was listening to her soft, lilting singing voice. He'd lied to himself last night; he'd already given in completely to her. She was the most important thing in his world.

Like the day before, he pretended that everything wasn't a mess for a little while—that he and Beth were here because it was their home and they were happy. Daryl imagined her daddy wasn't dead and he hadn't had to kill his own brother— a future was possible for them here in this little piece of paradise.

"If ya didn't look so comfortable, I might be a little upset at how ya scared me just now."

He lifted one eyelid and peeked over at her before closing it again and smiling.

"I ain't ever seen ya really mad, woman. I don't think ya got it in ya."

He heard her scoff and then water splashed before the droplets hit his face.

"Don't test me, Dixon."

Daryl dragged his hand over his cheek and laughed, leaning back against the tree again.

"Sing a bit more?" he asked quietly.

Beth was silent for a moment before asking, "Anythin' in particular?"

"Naw, whatever ya want."

He sat and listened to her sing until she was all done with the laundry, and then he carried the sack full of clean clothes back to the cabin for her .

Once they reached the porch, Daryl went inside and looked through his cabinets for a few things. When he came back out, Beth was carefully draping clean clothes over the railing to dry.

Without a word to her, he hammered a nail into one of the porch beams then added another nail on the other side of the porch. Beth moved out of his way as he strung a piece of plain wire between the two nails and pulled it as taut as he could.

"Ain't much," he said and shrugged. "I'll get ya something better next run. Put it out in tha yard for ya so we don't take our heads off walkin' out tha door."

"I feel like all I say to ya is thank ya, Daryl."

"Ya just remember how thankful ya are next time you start gettin' sassy and throwin' water at me." He felt awkward and out of place, so he just grabbed his game off the steps and walked around back.

He might not be able to flirt correctly, but he could prove he cared about her in other ways.

* * *

The next week or so passed in a similar fashion as that day.

Daryl checked his traps or hunted and Beth stayed close to the cabin. They had a few walkers wander up, but like she'd thought, either she or Daryl took care of them and then left them around the perimeter. When Beth had jokingly mentioned getting a few walkers like Michonne had, he snapped a little.

"Ain't keepin' no fuckin' pets chained to trees. Ya know how much risk ya run tryin' to do that to one of them without a sword like hers? Shit, I ain't jumpin' on the back of no walker doin' that with just a buck knife."

Beth had huffed and turned away. "I was just kiddin'. I don't want no walkers around here like that."

He stopped skinning the rabbit he'd caught and looked in her direction. "It's a good way of keeping them away from us, Beth, but I ain't gonna risk either of us gettin' bit for it. They keep others from noticin' us whether they're movin' around or dead anyway."

She hummed and went inside.

Daryl sighed loudly and went back to work on the rabbit. At least they'd have a good meal later, he thought, even if it was a quiet one.

It wasn't quiet, though.

Beth told him a story about her and Maggie from right before everything went to hell. They'd snuck out of the house and gone to a concert in Atlanta, but it was so late when they had started home that both of them were tired and almost falling asleep. Maggie had swerved while driving through a town about thirty miles from home and got pulled over.

"He actually called our daddy right then! I thought we'd both die from embarrassment, but he just said that if it were his daughters, he'd hope the cop would do the same thing. Then he waited with us until Daddy showed up. It was four in the morning and he was spitting mad." He laughed out loud with her, picturing Hershel getting that phone call. "Me and Maggie lost car privileges the rest of the summer. Lucky for us, too, because that's when all the walkers started showing up. We never had a chance to get infected because we were locked up at the farm."

Daryl lifted up his tin cup of water and said, "To that cop and his code. Without it, Miss Trouble here wouldn't be with me right now."

Beth rolled her eyes and tapped her cup to his. "And to Merle Dixon for making sure his baby brother stuck to the woods."

He'd mentioned that briefly several months ago in the prison when someone asked him where he spent the first few weeks of the outbreak before finding Shane and the others in the original group. Daryl cleared his throat to get rid of the lump there before tapping her cup again.

"Thank God for that ol' bastard." He took a sip of water and met Beth's eyes. "Don't talk about Merle much, but he was a good man when he wanted to be. Might not have given a shit about much, but he did care a little about me. I owe him for that."

Later that night, they lay in bed together, whispering quietly about random things. He loved the feel of her head on his chest and her fingers tracing patterns on his skin. It wouldn't be much longer before he gathered up enough to courage to turn his head and lay one on her.

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna check tha fences and warm up some water from the tap so I can wash my hair and not freeze under that shower," she whispered, her words skimmed his skin as she spoke.

He pulled her to him tighter and kissed the top of her head, letting himself nuzzle her hair a little.

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna go and get ya a deer."

She snuggled into his side and he felt her grin.

He'd hated leaving her that morning, but he had a promise to keep.

It took him nearly an hour before he spotted some tracks and picked up a trail. As quietly as he could manage, he followed the prints for nearly two more hours before he saw the small doe in a clearing.

Daryl didn't dare breathe as he lined up a shot. When he pulled the trigger and his arrow flew, he knew he was going to hit his mark. His woman was going to have a good meal that night, and he felt a rush of relief.

He walked out into the clearing and followed the blood trail a little ways before he found the animal breathing unsteadily.

"Sorry." He ran his knife across its throat, ending its struggle. "Thank ya."

He almost laughed at his actions, but thinking about world nowadays made him appreciate every life more.

"What do we have here, boys?" A gruff voice took him by surprise.

He turned to see a group of men making their way through woods toward him and his kill. One man strode forward, clutching a bow in his hand.

"What tha fuck ya doing, boy? That's my deer."

Daryl stood up, crossbow hanging dangerously as his side. "Tha fuck you say? My arrow, my kill, asshole."

He met the man in the middle of the clearing. Daryl looked over him and decided that he was someone he would have hated in his life before—and his reactions were usually spot-on.

"Now, Len, we can settle this like civilized people." The leader, he assumed, pointed at Daryl. "This man just doesn't know the rules."

"Name's Joe." His hair and beard were long and graying. He had on a leather vest and flannel shirt, and judging by appearances alone, Daryl might have known him once upon a time. But no longer

"Daryl." He grunted out and took a step back toward the deer. "This is mine," he said, pointing down at the doe.

All the men laughed, but he just stared at them, his face blank.

"You're almost right." Joe walked over, pulled the arrow out of the deer, and pushed the arrow across Daryl's chest. His voice was sharp and his eyes begged Daryl to disagree with him. "Claimed."

* * *

Beth was starting to get very worried. Daryl had mentioned it might take a while to track and find a deer, but he promised he'd be home before dark.

She'd eaten dinner by herself on the porch as the sun set and then went inside and barred the door. No matter what, Daryl wouldn't want her out after dark, and he wouldn't want her to leave the door unprotected if he wasn't there.

From her position on the bed, she stared at the door, willing a knock to come, but it never did.

In the morning, she woke in an awkward position across the bed. Tears clouded her vision.

Daryl wouldn't have willingly left her alone, she knew that much. She also couldn't believe that he'd been killed, either.

With her heart in her throat, she dressed, took the beams from the door, and stepped outside. There was one walker leaning against the fence, and she knew she needed to take care of it herself. The fence would hold if she let it stay there, but she couldn't hide inside just because Daryl wasn't back yet.

She felt for her knife on her hip and walked quickly across the yard. The walker looked toward her and growled, leaning against the barbed wire and tearing its cheek apart.

Without breaking her stride, she swung the blade up and pierced the walker's jaw straight through to its brain. One swift pull back and she had black blood on her hand and blade. The walker slumped to the ground, and Beth went back to the porch.

She waited all day for Daryl's return, but as the sun sank low again, she was forced inside by both the darkness and the biting wind.

Once indoors, she cleaned off her hands and her knife. It wasn't until she undressed and starting tugging on the long-sleeve flannel Daryl had worn the day before he left that she realized her hands were shaking.

She snuggled into their bed and hugged his pillow.

Then she let her tears fall.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead. Yeah, I'm sad, too.

Thank you Jen328 for editing this for me, and everyone who reviewed!

**crosses fingers** Here we go...

* * *

There wasn't a damn thing he could do.

The group had surrounded him and his kill, and all he could do was hope they'd leave him alive so he could get home.

Fuck the deer. If they wanted it, they could have it. There was no way he was leaving Beth alone after all the shit they'd been through.

"Fine, man. Take the fuckin' deer." He slung his bow over his shoulder and backed up. "Don't need no trouble with y'all."

The leader laughed and motioned for a guy to start dragging the deer aside. "We ain't got a problem. Go on, boy, clean your catch."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the man and took a step forward before reining in his temper. He was madder than he'd ever been.

"Ya deaf?" he asked Daryl, smirking a little. "Clean the fuckin' deer."

He was pushed from behind and stumbled a little toward the animal.

"Ya want it, ya clean it," he said and turned away again.

"Teach him a lesson about respect, boys."

Daryl dodged the first punch and landed one against the man's ribs. He was no match for seven though, and soon his was on his back, blood trickling down his split lip.

"Clean tha deer."

With a deep breath that killed his ribs, he rolled over and stood up before walking over and kneeling down next to the deer.

They watched and joked as he prepared the deer for them. His blood was boiling by the time he was finished. Never before had he felt like such a pussy.

"Coulda hung the sonofabitch up for me," he muttered and wiped his hands on his jeans.

Daryl was pushed again, and he couldn't stop himself as he turned on his heel and landed a solid right on the man's jaw. Before he could cause more damage, his arms were restrained behind his back and fists landed on his stomach.

They tossed him aside and Joe leaned down into his face. "Get off your ass; you're comin' with us."

"Fuck you." He coughed as he spit blood. Bastards fucked up his ribs good.

Everyone laughed and started walking away as Joe crouched down beside him.

"Ya see, Daryl, we could use your services for the next couple of days. Ya seem like a decent tracker, and me and my men—we're lookin' for someone. Why should we waste our energy when we can waste yours?" He clapped a hand on Daryl's shoulder and stood up. "Ya got a camp around here?"

Daryl kept his face blank as he stared at the man.

"Got a woman?" He felt his jaw twitch, and Joe saw it. "Ya do? We might not be as good as ya with tracking, but ya fuck with us and we'll kill ya and find that camp, ya understand me?"

All he could do was nod and try to stand.

"We don't have much nowadays, but I'll give ya my word; ya help us and we'll leave ya alone. Ya gotta play by the rules, though, and they're simple. Don't lie to me, and if ya see something ya want, all ya gotta do is say 'claimed' and it's yours." He laughed without any humor and added threateningly, "That woman ya got? She ain't yours yet. I'd watch your ass with these boys. They ain't had pussy in a long time."

His fists clenched and his hands trembled as he followed Joe and the others to their camp.

That evening, he sat around a fire with men he hated and ate a portion of deer meat that should have been Beth's. He prayed, for the first time in a long time, that she was all right and that she'd stay at the cabin until he got back.

Since he didn't play their game with that "claimed" bullshit, he was furthest from the fire. He shivered against the cold ground and palmed his knife. It was going against everything in his nature to not fight back, but he couldn't put Beth at risk. He'd play his part to get them off his back, and first chance he got, he was attacking.

* * *

The next day, a kick to his already bruised ribs was his wake up call.

"Mothafucker," he groaned and rolled over.

"Get ya ass up. We gotta go." The man named Len used the toe of his boot to turn him over.

Daryl tried hard not to show the pain he was feeling as he grabbed his bow and stood to face the rest of the group. Joe nodded in his direction and waved him over. Instead of flipping him off like he wanted, he walked across their camp and stood in front of the asshole.

"Ya gotta get us some food, boy. Better start tracking."

Daryl dipped his head down and bit the inside of his cheek so hard he tasted blood before turning away and taking off through the woods.

Several hours later, he had three rabbits and four squirrels, which he dropped at Joe's feet.

"There ya go."

He barely made it out of the clearing where they'd stopped before he heard them start following him. Daryl walked a bit faster, gripping the strap of his bow and looking for a way to lose them.

Wasn't no way he was getting away. Nothing but woods, and the ground was still so muddy even Beth could have tracked him if she wanted.

"What tha fuck y'all want?" He turned on his heel, and the men stopped a few paces away. "I gotcha food. Get off my dick, all right?"

Joe held up the game and smiled. "We'll need somewhere to eat these later, won't we?"

Daryl's blood turned to ice as he realized what they meant to do.

"Ain't got no place for ya," he said as strongly as he could.

A sickly looking man with a goatee spit in his direction and snorted. "Ya can find somethin'."

He turned his gaze back to Joe who was smirking and pulling a cigarette from his pocket. "Ya ain't got much of choice. We're gonna follow ya, and ya cain't kill all of us. We just wanna place to stay for the night, Daryl."

They didn't make it back to the cabin that night though. Out of nowhere a herd of walkers, stumbled upon them. After killing a few and shoving one of Joe's men into the arms of a few walkers, Daryl turned and ran. The others followed closely behind him and at first he was worried that they saw what he had done. They didn't though. They were too caught up with the walkers to notice.

When they got far enough away, the men that were left climbed trees and waited as the herd passed under them.

They were heading the opposite direction of the cabin, so maybe Beth hadn't seen them, he thought to himself.

As the sun rose a few hours later, he made his way down the tree. Joe dropped to the ground a few feet away, and three other men walked toward them. Out of eight men, Joe had lost four. That was huge hit for him, and Daryl couldn't help but wonder what it might mean for him.

"How far until your place, Daryl?"

"Don't really know. Got all turned around last night."

Joe rolled his neck before speaking, "Ya better walk fast, then, because I ain't sleeping in a fuckin' tree tonight."

The tone of his words made Daryl pause for a moment and look over the man. For the first time since they met, he didn't see Joe as a threat. He was old, slow, and tired. Daryl nodded and started in the direction he knew the cabin to be. Worse came to worst, he'd put an arrow through their heads as they slept.

* * *

Once he found the creek, he knew they'd arrive soon. He hoped Beth was inside and the door was barred; he prayed the herd hadn't come close to their cabin the night before.

He shook his head when he heard her voice. Of course she wouldn't be locked inside like he wanted.

"Ya hear that?" one of the younger guys asked quietly.

"I'll be damned," the other one muttered when Beth came into view.

She was outside the barbed wire fence, and it looked like she was checking one of the nails closest to the ground.

"She's claimed." His voice was hard as he turned to stare at the four men behind him.

"Fuck that. She ain't claimed yet." The man who spoke first started to walk forward and Daryl pushed him back and took off toward Beth.

* * *

She heard footsteps and turned to see him striding toward her. Relief overtook her body, and she felt like she could breathe again.

Beth looked him over quickly and thanked God he had no visible injuries. When she met his eyes again, she paused at the look on his face, and then a rush of adrenaline shot through her chest. She'd only seen that look once before, and she prayed it meant he was about to do what she thought he would.

His hands slid up her arms, across her collarbones, and settled on each side of her face. Beth's heart skipped as he leaned forward and softly brushed his lips against hers before meeting them again in a punishing kiss. She froze for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and letting her fingers tangle in his hair, pulling softly.

This kiss wasn't at all like the one they'd shared a couple of weeks ago. That one had been hesitant and a little shy, especially since she'd instigated it. This kiss was brutal and rough. His lips slanted against hers, and he pushed his tongue into her mouth, groaning when she met him with the same force.

When he started to pull back, she lightly bit his bottom lip before giggling softly.

Daryl's intense blue eyes caused her to freeze in place. She expected declarations of love or something equally heartwarming, but the single word that came out of his mouth confused her. She tilted her head to the side as he turned around and that confusion disappeared as she came face-to-face with a group of men that Merle Dixon would have felt right at home with.

Daryl said it louder this time, pushing her behind him. "Claimed."

The older, haggard-looking man leered in her direction, and she gripped the leather of Daryl's jacket.

"Ain't gonna challenge ya." His voice was rough, and the other men nodded but didn't look pleased.

"Get in tha house," Daryl whispered.

She didn't wait for him to say it twice; she slipped under the fence and walked fast to the front porch.

Once inside, she leaned against the wall and put a hand to her mouth to muffle her sob. She was so happy that he was back and all right. Beth let herself feel that relief for a few more seconds before she started to worry about the men that were with him.

Daryl wouldn't have brought them anywhere near her of his own free will, which meant they'd threatened him in some way.

She peeked out the window over the sink and saw that they'd come into the yard and were walking around front. She used the small space between the boards to look out the front window and saw them setting down their packs and kicking leaves to make a circle in the dirt.

It wouldn't be long before it was dark, and they were preparing for it.

She watched as Daryl shook his head and crossed his arms. The leader held his arms out from his body and smiled.

Beth really hated his smile. There was something evil about it.

Daryl shook his head again and took a step back. The other men laughed at something the leader said, and Daryl walked up the porch steps and opened the door. Beth jumped away from the window, and as soon as the door clicked shut, she had her arms wrapped around him.

"I was so worried," she whispered against his chest, relishing the squeeze of his arms around her. "What happened?"

He led her over to the bed and sat down on the edge, keeping both her hands in his. It took him several seconds, but soon the whole story spilled out.

"Are ya all right?" she asked when he was finished. Beth didn't wait for his answer, though. She unbuttoned his shirt and looked over the purple-black splotches on his skin.

"I'll be fine." He slid off his jacket and then his vest and worn-out flannel. Daryl leaned back against his pillow and groaned. "Said they're gonna leave in the mornin'. Don't know if they're bullshittin' me or not, though. Seems like they keep changin' their minds when they're gonna leave me alone."

Beth got up and walked across the room, barring the door as she spoke. "What do ya mean? Ya think they're gonna stay?"

Daryl shrugged and closed his eyes. "Don't know. I think they're gonna try and get me to do more for 'em."

Beth made her way back to the bed and lay down as close to him as she could. "What are we gonna do?"

"_We _ain't gonna do anything. _I'll_ do whatever it takes to get 'em away from here."

Her heart started beating frantically as she understood his meaning. "You're not gonna leave me here, are ya?"

"That's the last thing I wanna do, baby."

She rested her arm lightly over his stomach and sighed. Neither spoke for a long time, and she thought maybe Daryl had fallen asleep, but he raised his hand to hers and let their fingers twine together.

"Things are different now," he said quietly.

Beth rose up and kissed the side of his neck, whispering against his skin. "Things have been different for a while."

He rolled on his side to face her. Slowly, he traced his fingers over her cheek and into her hair. "Ya sure this is what ya want?" He cleared his throat and flicked his eyes down before meeting her gaze again. "That I'm what ya want?"

There was a moment his eyes looked wary, and her heart hurt that he thought she'd reject him.

"Absolutely." She pressed a small kiss to his lips.

"Ya can do better." It was his turn to move in and take her lips. The hand that was tangled in her hair locked her in place, and his tongue traced her lower lip before taking it between both of this. Daryl pulled back and Beth leaned forward, chasing his kiss. "I'm not gonna complain, though. I'm yours as long as you'll have me."

Beth felt her smile overtake her features as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to roll him over. He shook his head and smirked. "Think ya can manhandle me because I'm injured?" His forearms were on either side of her head as he braced himself over her. "Ya want me on top ya, just gotta say so."

She ran her hands over his back, tracing the scars before sliding up his neck and into his hair. His eyes closed at the feel of her hands on him, and she couldn't help but think he looked years younger when he relaxed a little or when he gave her that halfway grin.

He dipped his head down, and his shaggy hair fell over his eyes, so she moved one hand around, caressing his cheek before running her fingers through the strands and pushing them back.

The slight tug of his hair seemed to set him off, and he crushed his lips to hers like he'd done earlier. Beth moaned into his mouth as his upper body pressed her into the bed.

She couldn't think as he moved his kisses across her jaw and down her neck. When he reached the spot just under her ear, he bit down lightly, and her whole body was suddenly on fire.

"God, Daryl." Beth turned her head further and pressed her hands to his head, keeping him in place. He sucked her skin and then traced his tongue over the same spot before biting down again.

Her stomach clenched with each pass of his lips, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, tilting her hips to meet his. When his hardness brushed against the center of her jeans, she gasped and threw back her head, closing off his access to the spot on her neck he'd been marking.

There was loud laughing from outside that snapped Daryl out of his lust-induced daze and he pulled back.

They really hadn't done anything yet, but he was breathing heavily and his face was flushed. She was that she looked the same way. He studied her face before he leaned his head against her shoulder, placing a soft kiss against the skin she knew was bruised.

"Ain't gonna do this with them outside," he said against her neck.

She pushed his shoulders, and he leaned back. When she could see his face again, her forehead creased in irritation. "Ya serious? After everythin', we're gonna stop now?"

Daryl reached back and untangled her legs before rolling to the side and throwing an arm over his face. Beth looked down, seeing the outline of his hard shaft through his jeans, and felt completely confused.

"This ain't right," he mumbled. "Beth, baby, this ain't how it happens. Not with those pricks right outside."

Beth felt an overwhelming surge of confidence, and before she could back down, she sat up and yanked her shirt over her head, leaving her bare from the waist up before him. But his arm was still in place and he wasn't looking at her.

She stood up and dropped the jeans to the floor before getting back on the bed and straddling his waist.

That got his attention. He dropped his arm away and opened his eyes, taking in her almost-naked form.

Beth flushed all the way down her chest as he stared wide-eyed at her breasts.

She almost crossed her arms to cover up, but Daryl sat up fast, wincing as he did, and trapped her against his chest.

"Damn, woman," he said harshly against her lips. "It's supposed to be special, ain't it?"

Beth laughed nervously. "Am I gonna have to say somethin' cheesy like it's special 'cause it's ya?" She leaned forward and kissed up his neck before sucking gently on the lobe of his ear.

It took all his strength, but he pulled back again.

"I'm a sure bet, baby, I swear to ya. I ain't that strong to stop it from happenin', and God knows how badly I want ya, Beth." He kissed her again, savoring the softness of her lips. "But it ain't gonna happen tonight. Not with everythin' up in the air and those guys out there, waiting for us to fuck up."

"You're mine?" Beth asked against his lips and smiled.

"Ain't much, but it's all yours."

"I guess I'll take that for now."

Daryl kissed her and sighed.

"I'm yours, too, ya know? Even back at the prison, I knew that in my own way."

Daryl didn't what to say to that, but he felt so powerful knowing that this woman had had her sights set on him for so long. He wanted her, too, but never even thought it was possible.

He wasn't sure what would happen in the morning, but he knew without a doubt he'd do whatever he had to do to keep her safe.

"Go on to sleep." He lay back on the bed and pulled her to his chest, relishing the feel of her skin on his.

She slept soundly that night, and he kept a hand on his bow by the side of the bed at all times.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, so, shit's about to get real. See you next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead

Thank you so much Jen328 for editing this and all your advice!

Thank you again to all who reviewed so far!

* * *

Beth opened her eyes and stretched, smiling to herself the entire time. She knew Daryl was already outside because she'd heard him leave a few minutes earlier. She sat up in the bed and held the covers to her chest before flopping back against her pillow.

She lay there for a little while, wondering what was about to happen to them, then dressed and ate some canned green beans that Daryl had left on the stove. Beth decided it would be best to stay inside. She didn't want to walk out there and cause any issues, and after Daryl explained the "claimed" rule, she really didn't want them looking at her.

Instead, she peeked out the crack between the boards on the porch window.

They were all sitting around a fire, heating up a couple of cans of food.

Beth watched Daryl as he listened intently to the gray-haired man. She could tell by his tense posture that whatever was being said wasn't what he wanted to hear.

The conversation lasted several more minutes before he stood up and walked back into the cabin.

He looked over at her when he closed the door, and his shoulders lost their tense posture.

"You're so damn beautiful."

She could feel the blush spread over her cheeks and she bit her lip.

He closed the distance between them and lowered his lips to hers, pulling her against him.

Beth lost herself in the sweetness of the kiss. It wasn't the same kind of kiss from last night—full of purpose with a destination in mind. It was slow and relaxed. Just a moment of feeling each other before he leaned his head back.

"They said they're gonna leave in a coupla hours to track down someone. Few days ago, a man killed one of their own and left him to turn. Lost two men—the walker and the one the walker killed." Beth started shaking her head and he pushed on. "They think they're going to a place called Terminus."

"Terminus?"

Daryl pulled her over to the bed and sat down. She took a seat beside him and twined their fingers together.

"They said there're signs up all along the railroad tracks advertising sanctuary. They got a tagline, too. 'All who arrive survive.' "

Beth stared down at their hands and narrowed her eyes. "How come we've never heard of it before? Y'all used to make runs all the time and never saw anything."

Daryl shrugged. "We heard a radio broadcast once. It was fulla static, but thinkin' back, that's what they were saying."

She was consumed by her own thoughts for several minutes before Daryl bumped his shoulder to hers.

"Whatcha thinkin'?"

"I wanna believe it's true, but I can't shake tha feelin' that somethin's not right about it." She hoped he felt the same way because she didn't want to go. It seemed that anytime they were around a lot of people, bad things happened. Granted, things hadn't been smooth by themselves, but at least it was just them they had to worry about.

"I was thinkin' the same thing, baby. Don't no one advertise sanctuary without a motive anymore. We got sanctuary here, but we ain't offering it to others. Even at the prison, we had rules. This Terminus—it's bad news, I can feel it."

"Ya think it's like Woodbury?"

Daryl withdrew one of his hands from hers and started biting his thumbnail. "Don't know. All I know is that when ya got a safe place to stay, instinct tells ya to keep it secret now. Too many people draw attention."

Beth reached out and pushed his hand away from his mouth. He'd make himself bleed if he kept it up. "We'll stay here, then?"

"It's safer here." It was all he said as he stood up. "I'll do whatever ya want to do, though."

Beth wrapped her arm around his waist and hugged him close. "I wanna stay here, and I want them gone."

"They'll be leavin' soon." Daryl lowered his voice and continued, "If they don't, I'll kill 'em, Beth. I shoulda done it when we ran into the walkers."

Her body froze, and she met his gaze. What she saw there frightened her more than she could say. Those blue eyes she'd come to love were glacial and unseeing, and his hand had gone to his hip where his knife was clipped.

"Daryl." Her voice was barely audible.

He looked away and shrugged. "Either way, we ain't gonna deal with them past today. I'm gonna go and find ya a rabbit or squirrel, and ya can make some soup. It's the right weather for something warm like that."

She stood in shock as he kissed her cheek then went to pick up his bow.

"Those assholes are gonna stay out in the yard. They said they ain't gonna mess with ya, and I know they're tellin' the truth—right now at least. Sometimes I forget, ya know? I used to be one of those guys. Merle was one of those guys." His forehead scrunched up, and he gripped his bow so hard his knuckles turned white. "Bar the door anyway. Take tha gun ya found outta the draw and put it on tha table. Use it if ya have to. I'll be back soon, sweetheart."

When the door shut behind him, Beth did as she was told and barred the door before getting the gun out. Then she set about making a base for the soup and added canned vegetables to the pot.

She tried not to think about Daryl's resolve to kill those men if they went back on their word. For a moment, she was trapped between her life before, when murder was wrong, and this new world, where kill or be killed was the standard. More than anything, Beth didn't want him to have more blood on his hands than he already had.

Beth stirred the food in the pot and placed it on the stove before walking over to the porch window and looking through the crack. She watched the group of men for a minute and took in their appearance and demeanor.

These men were flourishing in this new world, and it was because they didn't have an issue with spilling blood if they had to. In that moment, she lost her fear at the look she'd seen as Daryl spoke to her.

If the roles were reversed and she were in his shoes, she realized she'd do whatever it took to keep him safe, too.

* * *

She was still watching through the window when Daryl came back with two rabbits.

One of the younger men stood up and reached for the game on his belt, but Daryl backed away.

She couldn't make out the words, but she could tell they were yelling. Finally, Daryl threw down one rabbit at their feet, mouthed something, and started to walk away.

It all happened so fast she didn't even have time to scream before the man tackled Daryl to the ground and started hitting wherever he could reach. Beth didn't think twice before grabbing the pistol and throwing the boards off the door.

They weren't even paying attention to her; instead, they had all gathered around Daryl and were stomping on his body with their dirty boots. She calmed down as much as she could and took aim from the porch. Her first shot was wide, but her second shot caught one in the neck, and the next shot went straight through one's chest.

When the other two started running toward her, she emptied the clip in their direction and watched them both fall to the ground.

She drew her knife and quickly walked down the steps. The man closest to her was the leader, and he was reaching for his own gun, but she slammed her blade down into his skull without hesitating.

The man on his right was already dead, so she ran to the other two. One had bled out and the one with the bullet in his chest was gasping for air.

"I'm so sorry," Beth whispered as she used her knife on him.

Beth wanted to check on Daryl, but the man near her had turned, and he was groaning and starting to stand.

The third time she used the blade, she didn't even flinch. By the time she made it to the fourth man, she was already thinking about how to get rid of the bodies.

She thought about what she'd said before stabbing the first man and realized that she wasn't really sorry that she'd killed them; she was sorry that she'd easily done something her father would have struggled with. He had been her moral compass, and today she'd killed four men without batting an eyelash.

Beth dropped her knife to the ground and ran to Daryl. He was still balled up, but he was breathing. Blood dripped off his chin and his eyes were already swollen

"Daryl?" she whispered. "I'm gonna have to move ya. It's gonna hurt, but ya need to get inside."

He didn't speak, but struggled to stand. Beth hooked his arm over her shoulder, and with all the strength she could muster, she practically dragged him to the house.

"Walkers," he mumbled. "Comin' 'cause tha noise."

"I know." She laid him on the bed. "I'll take care of it."

He was already unconscious, though.

She had very little time to waste, so she ran to the cabinets and found the rope Daryl had got on their first run. After she ran outside, she dragged each of the men as close as she could to the fence and tied their legs together before tying the rope to the undercarriage of the car.

Beth had no idea if it would actually work or if she'd fail, but she was sure going to try and get the bodies away from the cabin immediately. On her last trip under the fence, she rose up too soon and her back caught on the barbed wire. She gasped as the sharp pain of the barb pierced her skin and dragged down her back.

Ignoring the oozing blood and the sharp pain of her back hitting the seat, she cranked the car and drove through the trees, keeping her eyes on the bodies in her rearview mirror. She had to stop twice and retie them, but eventually she made it a couple of miles away.

Unfortunately, she ran into walkers that were following the noise she'd made shooting the gun. She had her knife, but it was no match for thirty walkers, so she got out of the car and ran.

Beth looked back once and saw them descend on the four men she killed, effectively forgetting about her. She didn't slow down, though, and when she slid under the fence surrounding their cabin, she felt relief for a moment before she started kicking dirt and leaves over the pools of blood on the ground.

With the last bit of her strength, she grabbed the feet of one of the dead walkers from outside their fence and hauled him to cover the biggest area of blood.

It'll have to do, she thought as she ran back inside and boarded the door shut.

The sun was setting, so she knew she'd wasted hours getting rid of the bodies. Her soup was burned on the stove, but she couldn't even care.

She wet a rag, went to Daryl's side, and started wiping off his face and hands. He looked terrible, and when she opened his shirt, she knew they'd broken his ribs this time.

Remembering what Daddy had told her, she gently pressed his stomach to check for swelling. She desperately wished that she had him or Carol here. They knew so much more about this than she did.

Once he was clean and on his back, Beth searched through their medicine and took out the painkillers they'd found along with the first aid kit. For the next few hours, she tended to each of his wounds and wrapped his ribs as best she could.

Beth watched out the window as a small group of walkers arrived. Instead of just continuing on, they stumbled around the fence, still smelling the blood she'd spilled.

She knew that the fence would hold, but still her heart stopped, and she held her breath as two walkers bumped into each other and tripped into the wire.

The sun was starting to sink in the sky, and she realized she wouldn't be able to keep an eye on them much longer. Beth shot a quick glance at Daryl and trembled.

What would she do if they broke the fence? There was no way she could take on that many walkers by herself, and she would never be able to get Daryl away from them if she tried to run. Even if she managed to get them away, their car was gone, and she wouldn't be able to drag him through the woods.

Maybe she could run and distract the walkers then circle back?

Beth found herself biting her thumbnail like Daryl always did.

What if he died?

Her breath started coming in quick pants as she imagined having to slam a knife through his skull to keep him from turning.

Then she thought about what would happen if she fell asleep and he turn then. What if she was woken up by his groans as a walker, staggering toward her?

Tears clouded her vision and she held her hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs.

As the night settled over them and Beth lost sight of the walkers, she wrapped her arms around her knees and leaned her back against the wall near the door. She listened to the groans of the walkers as they milled around outside the fence and stared at the dying fire in the stove.


	9. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

Disclaimer: I don't own TWD. I wish I did because then I'd be able to make this ship sail...lol

Thank you to Jen328 for editing these chapters for me and keeping me on track and true to the story I'm trying to tell. She's amazing. Thank you again to all who reviewed last chapter! I love reading your thoughts on what's happening!

* * *

It was in the middle of the night when Beth could no longer hear the walkers' groans outside the cabin, but she stayed awake, watching the rise and fall of Daryl's chest.

"Beth?" Daryl's voice was so hoarse.

She stumbled to the bed and tried to give him some water, but he spit most of it back up.

"Shhh," she murmured. "Try again. A little slower this time."

He took a few sips and then lowered his head back down.

"Feel like I got run over." He tried to open his eyes, but they were still so swollen.

"I'll get ya somethin' for the pain." Beth reached for the bottle beside the bed and took out two pills. "Can ya sit up a little?"

He complied, groaning miserably as he did. The pills went down with ease, though.

"What happened?"

Beth stared down at his beaten body and flinched.

They would have killed him, she truly realized for the first time. They'd have killed her, too. Everyone at the prison had her pegged as a girl who wouldn't do the dirty work and was better suited for domestic tasks—and they'd been right.

She didn't have a stomach for killing, but if she had to, she would. Beth reached out and took Daryl's hand, feeling how swollen his knuckles were from trying to punch back and defend his torso.

This man was someone she'd kill for. Someone she'd die for. She could have said all of those things, but when the words came out, it was a simpler explanation. "We don't have to worry about 'em anymore. They're gone."

Daryl fell asleep almost immediately, and after checking the door and looking out both windows, Beth lay down on her side of the bed and gave in to the exhaustion she'd held at bay for so long.

* * *

When Beth jerked awake that evening, the sun was almost gone. For a moment, she felt like she'd failed in caring for Daryl, but she shook the guilt off. She was more use to him rested than stumbling around, exhausted.

Somehow, she'd managed not to roll over and lie on him during the night the way she normally did. Even in sleep, it seemed her mind remained aware of his injuries. Beth watched his chest rise and fall for several seconds before she reached over to touch his face and run her hand to his neck. His pulse was strong, but his eyes were still swollen terribly and black. His lip was split, and she knew that if she lifted the covers, his chest and stomach would be littered with bruises.

A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she remembered those men beating him. She knew it was partially her fault for how he had acted toward them. If he'd been on his own, he'd have slipped away in the night and they'd have never found him, but he had Beth to look out for, so he'd tried to keep them satisfied until he saw a decent opening to take care of them.

In the end, his temper had won out, and they showed him no mercy in their retaliation. Beth was just glad that she'd caught them off guard and was able to take care of them before they'd killed him.

Those men caught a glimpse of her the day before and saw a defenseless woman, but she'd stepped up when it counted and protected Daryl the way he'd done for her.

Her heart was still heavy, though. Those were the first lives she'd taken, and it weighed on her. She closed her eyes and thought of her daddy and the words of wisdom he might offer during such a time. With her eyes still closed, she began to pray.

* * *

After getting up and tending to the fire, she took a rag and ran it through the cold tap water. There was no way she was getting ice anytime soon, so the cold compress would have to enough. Hopefully it would take away some of the swelling.

Daryl flinched as she laid the material over his eyes but didn't wake up.

She stared down at this sleeping form and sighed. There wasn't really anything else she could do for him. What he needed was rest and lots of food and water. He was doing pretty good on the rest front, so she went to the cabinet and looked over their food supply.

They were lucky that they'd had such a good run before everything went to hell, Beth thought as she looked in the cabinets. There was enough food to last them at least another two weeks before they'd have to figure out a run. Beth wasn't sure that Daryl would be able to do much of anything in the coming weeks let alone make a run for supplies.

Still, she didn't like it when decisions were made without her input, and she knew Daryl wouldn't want her to run off half-cocked by herself, so she decided to wait and talk to him about it once he was a little better.

When the cabin had warmed up a bit and Beth had heated up some food, she walked to the bed, pulled the blankets away from Daryl's body, and scanned his injuries. She desperately wanted to wake him up and make him eat something but figured he needed to rest more.

With the last rays of light, she checked the fence surrounding their cabin. Everything was secure and there weren't any walkers around, so she went back inside and barred the door.

Everything seemed better when she was inside the cabin. It was safe and warm and Daryl was still with her. She just felt useless watching him sleep, though.

"Beth?" He cleared his throat and winced. "Ya there?"

It hit her suddenly that even though she'd moved the rag earlier, his eyes were still swollen shut.

"Yeah." She swallowed a sob. "I was tryin' to warm up some soup for ya to eat. How ya feel now?"

He struggled to sit up, and she rushed to his side to help him the rest of the way. His back was against the wall and rolled his neck from side to side.

"I'd be all right if I could see shit. Damn." She watched as he flexed his hands and let his head fall back against the wall. "Worst beatin' I ever took."

The tears fell silently from her eyes as she took his hand gently.

"Can I help ya with anythin'?"

"Take off my vest and shirt, will ya? I cain't stand anythin' touchin' my skin right now."

It took them a couple of minutes of starting and stopping before his clothes were in a pile beside the bed.

"Tell me what happened?" he asked as Beth took his hand again. Daryl placed hers on his chest and kept it there. "Cain't even see ya. Hate that," he whispered.

"I don't even know what to say." Her voice was so quiet she was afraid he wouldn't hear her.

"They dead?"

"Yes." Her voice trembled slightly.

Daryl hung his head. "How'd ya get 'em away from here?"

All the emotions she'd been dealing with burst out in a loud sob. "I got the rope and tied 'em to the car then drove 'em away. I ran into a group of walkers and left tha car and ran back here. I covered up all the blood with dirt and then pulled a walker over some of it."

"Fuck," he mumbled. "Come 'ere."

He wrapped his arms around her as best he could and let her cry into his shoulder.

"I thought they were gonna kill ya."

"They would've. Ya saved us." Daryl sat back a little and dropped his hand to his side. "I shoulda took 'em out when they were sleepin'. Didn't want ya to get your hands dirty like that."

"I'd do it again for ya."

Beth leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his battered lips.

Neither really knew what else to say, so Beth stood, poured some soup into his bowl, and then carefully fed him.

* * *

A week later, Daryl was able to walk around the cabin and refused any of their stronger painkillers. He didn't like how they made him sleep, especially considering the times they were living in.

"Ya don't need to hurt, Daryl. Ya need to heal."

"Shit, I'd rather be hurting and running away from walkers than knocked out while ya tried to haul my ass away and both of us get killed."

He hated everything that had happened, and he felt so fucking weak with Beth having to help him with nearly everything. Occasionally, he'd see her staring at him with concern in her eyes, but it would quickly shift to something else. He hadn't shown her any type of affection since he'd woken up and had perfected avoiding her kiss.

Around the cabin, he either snapped at her more than usual or was just silent. She took it in stride, but he could see it was getting harder for her not to snap back.

He just felt off.

Guilty.

"Who's to say that I wouldn't throw your ass to tha walkers myself?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her but didn't respond. Hell, he'd throw himself to the walkers if he didn't break out of this mood he was in.

"Ya need to just get it off your chest, Daryl. Ain't no use in us just bickerin' at it each other instead of bein' like we were."

"How were we?" He stood. "We ain't nothin' but two people got stuck together after all hell broke loose. Shit, princess, ya wouldn't have looked my way before all this, and the only reason ya are now is 'cause I'm tha only one here."

Beth froze in front of the stove for a moment, then she turned to face him. He saw her cheeks flushed with rage and tears shimmer in her eyes, but she didn't yell or let those tears fall.

"Ain't I just the luckiest girl in tha world?" She dropped the spoon in the sink and walked to the door. "I'll check tha fence. Fix your own damn dinner."

He watched her leave and immediately felt like shit.

Daryl didn't know how to work through things; he didn't do feelings well or try and hash shit out. But she sure as hell didn't deserve his ire.

Truth was, he was mad at himself, and when the swelling finally went down enough for him to open his eyes, he hated seeing the worn-out look on Beth's face. He didn't like how she hadn't moved the walker from the yard or would scrub her hands in hot water three or four times a day.

Merle's voice floated around his brain, calling him all sorts of names and taunting him for getting the shit kicked out of him while his woman killed the men he should have killed long before they even got close to her.

Daryl didn't know he was capable of hating himself more until he could finally open his eyes again.

God, he missed holding her so much, too. He missed letting himself feel comforted by her soft touches and sweet kisses, but he felt like he didn't deserve them anymore.

It was just so simple in his mind. All he had to do was to tell Beth all that, and then everything would go back to normal. Except nothing would be normal again. The world had ended and the lines were all blurred and the one untouched spot in his life was marred now because he'd failed to do his job and keep her safe.

* * *

Another week passed and there was no improvement with Daryl. He had shut her out, and it didn't seem like he was keen on letting her in anytime soon. Beth knew she should just try and come to terms with this new way of things, but she'd seen how he really was and couldn't shake the feeling that maybe if she pushed him a little further, he'd come around again.

"We're gonna go on a run and stock up, okay? Try and get as much as we can, so we don't have to go out for a while."

Beth nodded against her pillow and yawned. She hated not sleeping with him, but since he'd healed up enough, he insisted on sleeping in front of the door. They'd argued again that night, too, and it ended with Beth throwing a pillow at his face and telling him to go to hell.

A storm had blown through a couple of days before, and the temperature had dropped dramatically. She'd taken to wearing a jacket to bed most nights because the stove didn't provide enough warmth for the room.

Since Daryl had annexed himself to the door, she'd get up in the middle of the night and cover him with extra blankets, which he'd promptly throw off in the morning without a word of thanks.

Neither of them was really helping the situation, but she'd try to get closer and he'd run away. She was about tired of chasing him.

"Figure since it's colder than a witch's tit outside, tha walkers will be too slow to cause us any problems."

Beth snorted and dug her fingers into his side as he passed too close to the bed. He squirmed away, wincing a little, and she laughed. "You're such a poet, Daryl."

"Stop it, woman." He smacked her hand away and pulled the covers back. "Get dressed and make me some breakfast."

This caused her to laugh harder, and Daryl turned his head to the side, letting her see his sexy half-grin. She didn't think twice before she sat up and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Let me cut your hair later?" she whispered and kissed his jaw.

She let one hand trace up his back, skimming the scars. He stiffened under her touch and moved away.

"Ya know, I think you're the most handsome man I've ever seen." With that said, she scooted off the bed.

"I'd say ya must be blind, then," he quipped as he pulled on his boots.

"I'm not blind. Ya just don't see yaself like I do, is all."

"Ain't that the fuckin' truth," he muttered, shrugging on his flannel shirt and leather vest.

Beth just shook her head and pulled on a big sweater and her jacket.

When things were good with Daryl, it was as easy as breathing. She wished that he would see that.

* * *

It didn't take much time at all before they were walking through the woods, heading out in the opposite direction of where they had found food before.

Daryl had wanted to go and find the car that Beth had left, but she didn't want to use it. He complained, of course, and made her so mad she slammed the cabin door on her way out.

He was just fucking up every which way.

Before long, they'd reached the road and after another couple of miles, found a little pickup truck that would work well for them.

Half a tank of gas, too.

The first town they came to looked completely deserted, which wasn't saying much. There was a dollar store off to the side of the road with big chains on the door and spray paint on the windows that read DEAD INSIDE.

He smirked and shook his head as he pulled into the parking lot. Beth didn't say a word, just raised an eyebrow before getting out of the truck. After tapping on the glass and waiting several minutes—and still hearing no noise from within—he went to work on the chains.

They didn't actually have a lock on them and were just wrapped around the handles repeatedly, which was good for them.

He and Beth deserved a bit of luck, especially with winter settling in hard and no sign of anyone else from the prison; it would save them if this place had just been "protected" by someone to come back to.

He'd seen it before right after the outbreak. People would avoid anything that had those words written on the outside, but he and Merle had found out pretty quick that sometimes it was a lie and there was plenty for the taking beyond those chained doors.

For Daryl, it had been food and water. For Merle, it had been pills.

"Keep an eye out anyway," he said quietly as he dropped the chain and opened the door. There was a think layer of dust over everything and not a sound to be heard inside. They did a quick circle around the store and secured the door to the back so they wouldn't run into the same problem that they'd had at the grocery store.

The shelves were still nicely stocked and if they could bring back that much canned food, they'd be set for the winter.

"Cain't lift shit right now, so I'll get some garbage bags and fill 'em up. You'll have to drag 'em over to tha door and try and put 'em in the bed of the truck."

"How'd ya even know this place was safe?"

"If I wanted to keep people out of my stash, I'd warn 'em off with something like this, too."

"Do ya think they're still around? What if they pop up?"

Daryl ran a finger along the nearest shelf, coating the tip of his finger in dust.

"They're long gone, princess."

That familiar look of covered her face again, but instead of telling him to kiss her ass, she turned and went to find bags for him.

In the end, they collected twelve bags of canned food, three bags of dried goods like rice and beans, six large Tupperware boxes, new undergarments for Beth, and all sorts of toiletries that had became luxury items since the prison. They even got some instant coffee and sugar.

After they emptied the shelves, they went in the back and found boxes of canned goods that had been waiting to be stocked. Beth dragged three of those to the truck before tiring out completely.

The final bag that Beth brought with them was a purse she'd picked up off a rack, and she walked around by herself filling it with stuff she didn't want Daryl to see.

By the time they were settled in the truck, there were four walkers stumbling across the parking lot as slowly as they'd ever seen them move. Behind them, ambling down the road, were at least forty more.

"Guess ya were right about tha weather." Beth stared behind them as they turned out in front of the walkers. "That's amazin'. We should try and hit up another place with 'em movin' like that."

"Got what we need."

"Well, if we're gonna stay at the cabin, we need to get some gardening stuff for the spring. Might as well get it all now."

He huffed and drove toward the hardware store that was on the square across from the store they just looted.

"Go get what ya need." He waved a hand toward the door, and Beth got out, moving quickly.

Five minutes later, she emerged with a rake, a hoe, a posthole digger, and a plastic bag full of seeds.

"There's some T-posts and barbed wire in there. Go get 'em and we'll reinforce the fence." She didn't even look his way as she said it. "And another five gallon bucket."

He was in and out with all the things she'd said to get, and they headed back to the cabin. It was ridiculous at how slowly those walkers moved, he thought. They hadn't even made it halfway to the hardware store by the time he was backing out.

Fuck, they outta spend the winter driving north if the cold slowed them down this much.

That thought fell away quickly, though, when he looked at Beth.

They were safe here for the time being, and as much he was acting like an asshole, he still just wanted to protect her, to make up for how he'd failed her before. Maybe find her sister if she was still alive.

He wanted to touch her again, too.

Tomorrow, he decided. Tomorrow they'd sit down and sort this shit out, and he'd move back to the bed if she'd let him.


	10. Chapter 9

Ch. 9

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you so much for all the reviews last chapter! I love reading them.

Thank you, Jen328, for editing this! You're simply wonderful!

* * *

Why'd we haul all this shit here if we ain't got room for it," Daryl complained—loudly—the next morning from his spot in front of the door. "Damn it, Beth, ya did this on purpose."

She had, so she didn't answer him. There was a row of boxes surrounding him and garbage bags behind those. It had been wrong of her to move them, knowing good and well that he couldn't move them on his own, but it felt good to punish him a little after he left her to organize everything and went out to check the fence for two hours the evening before.

There wasn't nothing wrong with the fence, and she peeked out the window and caught him smoking near the creek. She had almost barred the door on him for that. Instead, she lay down and left the everything as it was. Until he was asleep, at least, and then she'd barricaded him in.

"Help me move this shit, woman. I gotta piss."

With a groan, Beth rolled over and threw back the covers. She dragged away the bags and boxes, creating a little pathway for him to move through.

"Ya PMS-in' or somethin'?" He pushed past her without making eye contact.

"I could ask ya that same thang, couldn't I?" she said as he shut the bathroom door.

Beth went back to the bed and reached underneath it to pull out the purse she'd taken the day before. She smiled a little as she took out the fuzzy socks she found and slipped them on her feet. It was a silly thing to want to bring with her, but she couldn't pass them up. It made things seem a little less "end of the world" when she was wearing fuzzy socks.

She waited a couple of minutes for Daryl to come out of the bathroom, but when he didn't emerge, she figured he was hoping she'd go back to sleep so he could avoid her. Too bad for him; she was hungry and happened to find her favorite kind of oatmeal yesterday. She started to heat up some water and thought about how good it was going to taste with a little sugar.

Without even considering the opposite, she portioned out enough for both of them. He might make her mad with how he was acting, but she still had serious feelings for him. Plus, seeing him smile over something sweet for breakfast would be nice.

With that image in mind, she started singing and getting together things for the coffee they were going to have, too.

* * *

He'd decided yesterday that this was going to be the day he set it all straight, but then he woke up surrounded by shit he couldn't move and got aggravated at her. Daryl knew he needed to make peace with her because she'd proven she could hold her own when it came to being as annoying as he could be.

He was sure that if he called her _princess_ again, she'd deck him.

Daryl was an idiot to think he could push her away by being surly, and he was an even bigger idiot to think he was less of a man because she'd saved him. Still, years of hearing what a pussy you were tended to have a way of sticking with you.

He was going to have to try a lot harder to tamp down his gut reaction when it came to situations he was uncomfortable in or else he'd be an asshole to Beth nearly every day, and he didn't want that. She deserved a lot more, and as long as he tried, he thought he could really make an attempt at being that for her.

Just as he was about to open the door, he heard her start singing. That was his weakness, and he figured she knew it, too. Daryl waited a minute, listening to her sing and letting himself relax a little, all while battling the instinct to be a dick so she wouldn't know how much he needed her.

Damn his daddy to hell for making him the way he was.

He took a deep, cleansing breath and remembered that they were beyond pretending they didn't need each other. There wasn't no use in pretending with Beth to begin with.

She'd accepted what she felt and patiently waited for him to catch up. Then everything terrible happened, and he distanced himself again. He could tell that she wasn't quite as patient this time around though.

When he snapped, she sassed right back. When he started for the door to walk out, she beat him there and slammed the door behind her.

On the surface, she might look like some timid wallflower, but he'd seen her fire and felt her passion. If there was anyone he'd fall to his knees for, it would be Beth.

The sight that greeted him when he opened the door a few seconds later damn near made him do just that.

He guessed the stove had made her warm because instead of wearing her thick jacket, she'd slipped on one of his long-sleeve flannels over her black stretchy pants.

Those things were the bane of his existence and one of the reasons he'd started noticing Beth in a not-so-innocent way back at the prison.

His stomach growled at the smell of food, and he took his eyes off her body and looked at the stove.

"Smells good."

Beth turned her head and smiled. "It's my favorite. I think you'll like it, too, since ya got a bit of a sweet tooth."

"How ya figure that?"

He watched her cheeks pink before she turned away. "I've seen tha way ya look at tha old candy displays when we've been on runs, Daryl. Plus, ya love peaches and fruit." She shrugged and stirred whatever was in the pot. "Ya like sweet thangs."

In order to keep his thoughts to himself, he bit his tongue so hard he almost drew blood. He cleared his throat before settling on, "I guess I do."

"This is apple cinnamon oatmeal with some sugar on top. It'll get ya your fix." She carefully placed his bowl down in front of him. "How do you like your coffee?"

He spooned a big bite of food into is mouth and winced as it burned his tongue. With his mouth still full he answered her. "Little bit o' sugar."

"Ummm-hmmm."

Daryl bristled a little at her tone. "Ya still a pain in my ass."

Beth just laughed and took her seat across from him.

They didn't say any more, just enjoyed a warm meal and full belly for once.

When both bowls were empty, Beth stood and took them to the sink where she rinsed them out and set them on the rag on the counter.

He noticed that she stopped putting stuff away every night like she used to, and he was happy that she felt safe enough there to do that.

Daryl walked to the door and grabbed his bow. "Gonna check tha fence."

"Where'd ya get the smokes from?" Beth asked, quirking an eyebrow as she leaned against the counter.

"Ya spying on me now, woman?"

"I've _been_ spyin' on ya. I know all your secrets." The smile she shot him made his body tense and eyes narrow.

"Uh huh."

Beth laughed out loud and went to pick up a garbage bag of supplies.

Gripping the strap on his bow tightly, he muttered, "Got 'em at the hardware store. Two boxes just layin' on tha counter."

"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad ya got 'em if ya really missed 'em."

"Nervous habit."

Then he was out the door and into the freezing cold.

* * *

It took _hours_ to organize their latest haul. It filled up nearly all their cabinets, plus she filled a couple of the big Tupperware boxes with food, extra medicine, and even two blankets. When he got back from checking his snares, she planned to have Daryl put it in the truck just in case they had to make a quick getaway.

Beth knew he had avoided the house all day because he didn't like being stuck doing tedious tasks. She really didn't mind putting stuff away, but she would have liked company while she did it.

In the quiet, her mind ran wild, and she was drawn back to Daryl's past. She thought about all the things he'd gone through before and after the walkers happened. She didn't know the whole story about his childhood; she didn't think he'd ever tell her it all. The scars on his back told her enough, though.

He was a survivor, and that group of men wouldn't have even been able to catch him had he just been worried about himself.

For a moment, she wondered how she would die. Unconsciously, she rubbed the scar on her wrist and felt immense shame at her actions. She hadn't really wanted to die; she'd just wanted to be awake again. It was a nightmare. It had to be. Everything was so terrible, and she'd been so lonely—even with everyone around.

They'd all seemed to navigate the change all right, but she wasn't built for this. She was a nurturer and homebody.

That was then, though.

Now, she could kill if she had to, and she could protect herself from walkers if there weren't a lot. She was still soft down deep, though, and Beth knew that one day, her number would be up. She'd just try her best to make sure it was years from now and definitely not from getting eaten by walkers. She'd put a bullet through her brain before that happened.

She shook her head and picked up a can of corn.

There was no reason to be so morbid right now. Things were going fine, and she had faith they'd last through the winter unharmed. She might even be able to get Daryl back into bed with her before it turned warm again.

Daryl walked in a little while later, a skinned, scrawny rabbit in his hand.

"This'll prolly be the last of the meat for a while. So cold now that everything is pretty well hidden."

"If ya cut it up, I'll put it in the soup." She was stirring the corn into a pot that was full of other vegetables and broth.

He finished quickly since it was so small and went about getting cleaned up. After being out all day, his face was grimy and so were his hands.

"Looks good 'round here."

Beth smiled and nodded. "I put some stuff in a coupla of those boxes and want ya to put 'em in the truck. Ya know, just in case."

"That's a good idea." Daryl took off his vest and hung it on the back of the chair before starting to unbutton his shirt.

Beth didn't even bother not staring, and she swore he turned a little pink from the attention. She was surprised when he turned his back toward her without much thought. He'd always been very careful to not leave himself exposed, even around her, especially lately.

She didn't comment, though, just stirred the soup and watched him put on another shirt.

"I ain't just a piece of meat," he joked as he sat down at the table. "Ya could always return the favor, yeah?"

She laughed and set down their food. "Such a charmer."

He just smirked and started eating. Beth was positive it was burning his mouth, but he just kept going. Staying out all day, hunting down food, would make a man hungry, she figured.

Her thoughts went back to the same place they were earlier, and she looked at him with a new appreciation.

He was such a selfless man.

* * *

He watched as she took a small bite of her soup and then looked over at him. There was a look in her eyes that confused him, and when she spoke, her voice was calm and sure. "Ya know what I thought about when ya were gone?"

"Ain't no way of knowin' what goes on in that head of yours." He took another bite of the soup, trying to ignore the blank look in her eyes.

"Just thinkin' about what happens next, ya know? If we find the others or if we stay here a while. What'll happen when our luck runs out?"

Daryl dropped his spoon and sat back in his chair. "Why tha hell ya thinkin' about stuff like that?"

She shrugged. "While you stuck with those men, I was just out on the porch, waitin' for ya, I was thinkin'."

Beth held his gaze, and when she spoke again, it chilled him to his bones. "Ya know what I think?" He shook his head, afraid of her answer.

"You're gonna to be the last man standin'." Daryl froze. "You are," she insisted vehemently. "And you're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon."

It took him a few seconds before he could respond, and when he did, he was shocked at the anger in his voice.

"Why tha fuck would ya say that to me?" He stood up fast and knocked over his chair. Beth jumped at the sound as it smacked the floor. "I thought ya were over that shit? Ya gonna take anotha knife to ya wrists? Ya gonna leave me?"

He watched her eyes widen in fear and took a step back from the table.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't wanna die, Daryl. I just know it'll happen. Everythin' 'round us is fallin' apart, and I wasn't made to last here. I ain't got much skills for survivin'— ya do. You're strong and you're smart, and let's be real honest, if it weren't for me, ya'd be long gone from here."

Daryl walked backwards until he hit the wall and then slid down, holding his head in his hands.

"You're wrong." How he kept his voice even, he'd never know. He looked up and met her eyes. She looked close to crying, and he knew he was, too. "I wouldn't have been long gone, Beth. If I hadn't seen ya in tha prison yard when I did, I'd have run straight out into those walkers after the Governor."

"What?" she whispered, staring at him in shock.

He stood and opened the door, pausing for a moment to speak. "Only reason I'm alive right now is 'cause of you, woman. Couldn't stand tha thought of ya dying like that." He snorted and started outside, into the dark. "Can't stand tha thought of ya dying at all."

Daryl quietly shut the door behind him and walked around to the back of the cabin. He listened for sounds of anything close by since he couldn't really see all that well. Nothing near at all. Just the sound of the creek a little ways away.

A few minutes passed before he heard her walking toward him. He expected her to stand in silence beside him, but she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and leaned against him.

"I'm—"

Daryl cut her off. "Got some things to say." She made to walk around and face him, but he squeezed her hands to his stomach to stop her. "It's better this way. Dark. Cain't see ya."

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for bein' an ass the last few days and for how I acted this mornin'. I don't know how to deal with thangs sometimes, so I act like a dick. I hate being weak. Told all my life what a useless pussy I was, so I guess somewhere along tha way, I started to believe it was true, ya know?

"Findin' the group, providin', takin' care of my people made me see that maybe I wasn't so useless, but I sure as shit wasn't a leader. Then Farmer Rick happened, and everyone started lookin' to me. Buncha shit, ain't it? World goes to hell, and I find a place for myself.

"I was nothin' before this, Beth. A fuckin' nobody. Just some _redneck asshole_ with an even _bigger asshole for a brother.__"_ He shrugged, and she squeezed his waist. "I shouldn't feel the way I do for ya. Never done nothin' to deserve tha way ya look at me like ya do, but I want it.

"Ain't gonna make no promises about not being an asshole again 'cause I'll just break'em. I can tell ya that I'll try not to snap as much and try and talk to ya instead of runnin' away, but it'll take time, I imagine. Just wanna ask ya for one thang."

"What?" she asked against his back.

"Please don't talk about dyin' no more." His voice broke on the last word. She shook out of his hold and was in front of him when he opened his eyes. "I cain't even think about that."

"I promise." Beth reached her hand up and cupped his cheek in her hand. "It's ya and me, Daryl. I'll be yours if ya be mine."

He leaned down and spoke against her lips. "Always been yours, girl. Ain't never wanted to be anybody else's."


	11. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you Jen328 for editing this and being generally awesome! And thank you to all who are reading and those leaving reviews. I adore reading your thoughts on what's going on!

This chapter earns its 'M' rating, so if that's not your kind of thing, you can skip through to the end.

* * *

The day after Daryl's confession, Beth woke to his arms circled around her and smiled.

God, she'd missed this. She'd missed him so terribly bad in the weeks since he'd been hurt.

"Stop ya wiggling. Sun ain't even out yet." Beth snuggled back against him, and he gripped her hip to stop her. "It's like ya tryin' to test my patience this mornin'," he muttered into her hair.

"Ya should just give in." She rolled over to face him and ran a hand through his hair. "We should play twenty questions."

Daryl kept his eyes closed and groaned. "Why?"

"So I can get to know ya."

He snorted and turned his face down into the pillow, and Beth blushed as he said, "Ya just wanna talk about messin' around."

"And ya don't?"

"It's not dark enough to talk about this," he mumbled into the pillow.

"So if I brought this up tonight, then ya'd tell me?"

Daryl shrugged, and she let her hand drift over his naked back. His muscles bunched under her touch, and she leaned down and kissed his shoulder blade.

"Don't want to."

"I'll start, if ya want."

"I don't." Daryl sighed. "Does it really matter?"

Beth thought about it for a minute. "Not really. I just wanna know."

"Ya makin' me twitchy." He pulled the blanket over his back and tried to hide.

Beth pushed off the bed with a huff. "Ya just embarrassed."

"I ain't no virgin. That good enough?" His voice was muffled from beneath the covers.

"Neither am I."

She laughed as Daryl's head shot out from under his blanket and he stared at her in shock.

She couldn't stop the grin that parted her lips and he shook his head. "Ya just fuckin' with me." He pulled the blanket back over his head.

"Yeah, but I did let Zach feel me up once." Beth shrugged. "It's actually kinda sad to think about it now. He died the next day."

"Jesus." Daryl rolled out of the bed. "I gotta go."

She let him get dressed and went to the stove to get some of the soup from last night. They figured it would be okay to eat as long as they kept it heated all night. Beth didn't try and stop him as he picked up his bow and walked out the door.

He promised he'd try, and he definitely lasted a lot longer than she'd imagined he would with her questions.

It was natural to want to know about the past of your significant other, she told herself as she ate. There was a little bit of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, too, but she tried to talk that down. She worried about the women from their group, Carol in particular. Whoever he had been with before didn't matter because he was with her now.

* * *

He was jealous of a dead boy.

Didn't have no real reason to be, but still, she was his. First woman to ever really be his, and he didn't like the idea of someone else touching her.

It was stupid. He was being stupid.

He checked the fence, knowing that it would be fine. They hadn't had a walker this far out in a long time, so nothing had been pushing against it and no tree limbs had fallen on it. Daryl was just wasting time, hoping she'd moved on to something else by the time he got back inside the cabin.

He did another pass before he got really cold and wanted to be by the fire. As he walked up the porch steps, he dragged a hand along his jaw and prepared himself for Beth's questions as best he could.

He wrinkled his nose at the smell as he walked through the door. Beth sat at the table with a small bottle of blue nail polish, concentrating hard on what she was doing.

"Damn, woman. Ya tryin' to get high in here?"

She didn't look up, but she smiled. "Nope. I took this the other day, and I've been waiting for a good time to put it on."

Daryl sat across from her and asked, "Why?"

Beth shrugged and kept painting the fingernails on her left hand. "Why not? It's pretty, right?" She held her finished hand out to him.

"It's really blue," he said and started to chew on his thumbnail.

"It's turquoise."

"Yeah, like I said, blue."

Beth pushed the bottle across the table and held out her right hand. "I need ya to do this side. Maggie always helped me. I cain't do it with my left hand. "

Daryl narrowed his eyes a little. "Ya messin' with me again?"

She stood and pulled her chair around in front of him. "Nope." She placed her right hand on the table. "I really need ya to do it. Ya got steady hands, don't ya?"

He watched her for a moment, taking in her little smirk and confident eyes. There wasn't no use in saying no, he figured. Didn't really hurt nothing anyway.

"Cain't believe I'm sittin' here, painting a girl's nails. Merle'd have a field day with this."

Beth scoffed and shook her head. "Don't think of it as paintin' some girl's nails. Think of it as paintin' _your_ girl's nails."

"This the kinda thang a man does for his woman?" he asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

Beth watched him as he dipped the small brush into the paint, and she scrunched up her nose.

"Don't really know. I imagine that if ya care enough about someone, you'll help whenever ya can. No matter if it's somethin' silly like paintin' nails or somethin' more serious like pullin 'em out of tha middle of a shoot out."

"Guess you're right."

They sat quietly as he moved on to the next nail, trying to make the strokes smooth and not get any on her skin. When he finished with her pinkie nail, he had to admit it looked pretty decent.

"Thank ya, sir." Beth leaned back and held both hands in front of her, inspecting their work. "A little bit of brightness never hurt nothin'."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Beth was sitting on the bed, reading a trashy romance novel she'd thrown in her bag at the dollar store and admiring the pretty blue color of her nails as she held the book.

She smiled to herself and tried to start reading again. The book had definitely kept her entertained so far, that was for sure.

Her momma had called them "bodice rippers" and while she hadn't told her _not_ to read them, she hadn't exactly told her it was okay to read them either. The romance was lovely, and Beth adored the idea that a man would fall so hard for her one day. She imagined her hero sneaking into her bedroom, quietly making love to her, and then running away with her. It was silly daydreams that kept her occupied during boring summer days, but she loved them.

The hero in her dreams had changed a lot recently. He wasn't polished or silver-tongued anymore.

At that moment, Daryl stalked through the door, and she couldn't stop the sigh that escaped her.

No, her hero was now perpetually covered in dirt with tattoos and scars, and he was deadly with his bow and knife.

And my Lord, she thought as he walked to the sink, his arms were just amazing.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked as he wiped his hands on his jeans.

"Huh?" She glanced down at the book quickly then leaned over and threw it under the bed. "Oh! Nothin'."

Daryl raised an eyebrow in her direction and smirked. "Uh-huh. Sure sounds like nothin'. Makes me wonder what else ya got in that bag o' yours."

She flushed under his gaze but didn't look away.

"Now _you're_ messin' with _me_."

"Ya had it comin'." He laughed as he walked over to the bed and then leaned over her.

She watched him, waiting to see what he would do.

Daryl chewed on his bottom lip for a moment then moved the hand he'd placed on the bed to cup her cheek before sliding down to her chin. He traced his thumb over her bottom lip and leaned down the rest of the way to meet her in a soft kiss.

Beth didn't waste any time at all before she wrapped her arms around his neck and arched up to meet him. There was no way he was going to stop now, she thought.

"Scoot," he whispered against her lips and pushed her hip with his own.

She moved quickly, lying back against his pillow as she went. Instead of lying down beside her like she thought, he moved over her, bracing himself with his forearms on either side of her head.

Unlike last time, he didn't try to keep his bottom half off of her; instead, he covered her with his body, lining everything up just right as he started kissing up her neck. Beth moaned low in her throat and turned her head to the side. He sucked on her skin and dragged his tongue over it when she took a sharp breath. When his lips met hers again, she wrapped her legs around his waist and tugged on his bottom lip.

"Take off your shirt," she pleaded softly, trying to reach between them for the buttons.

He didn't answer, just moved off her and flung his vest to the floor. He almost ripped the buttons from his shirt trying to get it off as fast as he could.

When she reached to bring him back down to her, he tugged her up instead. Daryl pulled on the hem of her shirt and raised his eyebrows in question.

"Yeah," Beth said far too quickly, causing him to smirk.

She would have felt a little offended, but the way he stared at her body once she was undressed made her lose all thought whatsoever.

"Damn, girl." He groaned and bent to take her lips again, bringing his hand up to palm her breast. His thumb brushed over her nipple, and she gasped into his kiss.

Daryl's hands were rough and calloused, but as he continued to move them over her chest and ribs, the feel of them made everything more sensitive. She was completely lost as his lips roamed down her neck and across her collarbone. Her hands tangled in his hair, desperately trying to keep him from moving away from her.

"Can I?" He asked softly, letting his lips move further south to the top of her right breast. If she hadn't known him well, she would have never noticed the anxiety in his eyes.

"God, yes," she whimpered.

* * *

_Damn. _

Not a chance in hell he was going to stop, he thought as he kissed down the middle of her chest.

"What do you want?" Daryl breathed against her before tracing his tongue over her pebbled nipple.

"Touch me." She arched her back and she gasped as he palmed her other tit.

"Where?"

"Everywhere."

He scooted back a little and put his knees between her legs and one hand on her waist while he leaned forward and circled his tongue over her other nipple before sucking it into his mouth.

Beth arched up against him, pinning him to her chest with her hands. She didn't even notice him start to pull down her pants until he said, "Raise up, baby."

This was it, he thought as he moved away from her, tugged the stretchy material down her legs, and threw them onto the floor.

For a moment, he just stared down at her. He couldn't fucking believe what was happening between them was real. Her skin was pale and so damn smooth as he ran his hand along her leg up to her thigh.

He palmed his dick through his jeans and groaned as she reached out for him. He wanted her on top for a little while. Wanted that hair covering his chest and touching his thighs when she threw her head back. _Christ, _he thought as he sat down on the bed beside her and pulled her to straddle his lap. This was better than any fantasy he'd ever had.

"What about your pants?" she asked and gasped as he cupped her tits together and sucked on both nipples.

"Got lotsa time," was all he muttered before he started tonguing her again.

He dropped both hands to her hips after a minute and kissed back up her neck to her lips. Their kisses had gotten sloppy, and he crushed her to him as her lips moved along his jaw.

His fingers dug into her back, and he knew she'd have bruises, though he couldn't find it in himself to give a shit at that point. He'd already marked up her neck bad before he tried to get a hold of himself, but now she was grinding down on his dick and sucking on his neck, begging to be touched, for the ache he'd caused her to be eased.

Never in his life had he been so at war with himself to go fast or go slow, but when her soft hands skirted down his chest and stomach and started to unbuckle his belt, he gave up completely.

Daryl wanted to have his hands on every part of her body, he wanted to cover every inch of her with his lips and make her pant his name.

His slid his hands down her back to her hips and pushed her to lie back on the bed again. His belt was unbuckled and his jeans were open, but he stopped himself from yanking them off completely.

Her eyes closed as he moved his hand from her hip to her center and traced up her slit.

She was soaked for him.

"Daryl," she moaned as he circled her clit. Beth had a hand on his hand and the other wrapped around his wrist beside her head.

Time lost all damn meaning after that. She was warm and oh so fucking wet as he slid first one finger and then two into her pussy. His lips and tongue memorized the kisses and flicks that she liked against her nipples, and he burned the sight of her coming apart into his brain forever.

She was still coming down and he watched his fingers slide slowly in and out of her.

"That was amazin'." Beth had an arm over her eyes and smile on her face.

"Yeah." It was all he could manage before he kissed down her stomach and got a closer looked at what his hand was doing. His fingers were fucking glistening with her come, and he leaned and touched his tongue to her clit, flicking it like he did her nipples before.

He'd never done it before—or even wanted to—but right then, all he wanted to do was replace his tongue with his fingers and make her come again.

She squeaked out his name, and he pulled himself away as she sat up.

"I'ma do that next time," he growled before he pushed her back down and took her lips again.

He didn't stop her this time when she started pushing down his pants, and he kicked them off the bed. He groaned when her hand came down and circled around his dick.

"Am I doing this right?" She asked as she swiped her thumb over the head.

"Hell yes, you're doin' it right." He looked between then and moaned her name. "Please, girl—"

Daryl wasn't even sure what he was begging for, but when she lifted her hips up to him, he reached between them, his hand wrapping over hers as he guided his cock to her entrance. Beth pulled her hand away and gripped his hip hard enough to leave little marks from her nails when he started to push inside.

* * *

There couldn't be anything sexier than Daryl's face when he was inside her. It almost made up for the burning pain she felt when he pushed all the way in. His hair was in his face, so she moved it away with her fingers. His pretty blue eyes were darker and hooded, and there was a flush to his cheeks that had nothing to do with being embarrassed.

As if he didn't like her staring, he ducked his head down into her neck and started sucking on the skin behind her ear. She was pretty sure she was going to have a huge hickey, maybe a couple, in the morning.

"Ya okay?" His lips were against her ear, and she shivered.

"Yeah. Move." She tilted her hips up, and he pushed up to his elbows to see her face.

His eyes never left hers as he pulled out then moved back in. It seemed like such a simple movement, but as he picked up speed and thrust just a little harder each time, the tingling in her belly started to getting harder and harder to ignore.

Soon, there was no pain at all, and she let herself go, moving with him and groaning with each thrust of his hips.

"Oh, fuck," he groaned, pulling back to look down at her. "Ya feel so fuckin' good."

His hands tangled in her hair and he leaned down again for a rushed, biting kiss. On the next stroke, he stilled, his whole body tense. "Shit." He moaned low into her mouth, and she pushed herself into him harder. "That's it… move on my dick." She did it again, squeezing her muscles around him as she went. Daryl's grip on her hair tightened as he let out another curse before softly biting her lip and collapsing against her.

She had almost blushed at the memory of his words, but smiled instead. He was so far gone he wasn't even censoring himself like normal.

"I cain't breathe," he said with a laugh. "I'm dyin'."

"I don't wanna move," she admitted, running her hands up his arms and over his shoulders.

* * *

He didn't want to either, but he didn't want to crush her, so he rolled away and then dragged her to his side.

It was dark outside and the fire in the stove was low now.

Daryl thought back to this morning and her questions and then to what just happened between them.

He'd never felt anything like that with anyone else. With her letting someone like him anywhere near her, let alone inside her, was a damn near spiritual experience for him.

Daryl ran his hands over her hip and stomach before lacing his fingers with hers beside her chin. "Ya wanted to talk about stuff this morning?"

Beth rolled toward him and smirked before resting her forehead against his chest. "I don't think now's the time for that conversation."

"I ain't never felt for someone what I feel for ya. As far as I'm concerned, there was no one before ya 'cause nobody else meant a damn thang to me." He tilted her face to his and kissed her.

They were quiet for several minutes before Beth looked up to him and spoke quietly. "All tha terrible stuff that happened led us here. We're supposed to be together."

"I feel pretty shitty for everyone else who doesn't get a cabin and good woman, then." Daryl snapped but then sighed because he didn't want to ruin this evening.

"Ya know what I mean."

"Fate and all that shit."

Beth laughed. "Yeah—and all that shit."

* * *

When she fell asleep a little while later, he pulled the blankets around her, walked to the door, and barred it.

It wasn't until he started to put on his pants that he saw the smear of blood on his dick. Daryl leaned against the table and let the crushing realization that he'd come inside her settle over him.

"Sonofabitch," he whispered.

He looked at her sleeping beneath the covers and his heart sped up. Trying to keep himself from panicking, he lay down behind her and hugged her to him, ignoring the warring feelings that settled in his chest.


	12. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you Jen328 for editing this! And thank you to all who are reading and those leaving reviews. I adore reading your thoughts on what's going on, and I really hope you stick with the story to see how it plays out.

* * *

Daryl didn't sleep that night.

Instead, he ran over different scenarios in his mind of what could happen if Beth was pregnant. She could miscarry. The baby could die inside her and turn. She could die in childbirth, and he'd have to kill her and then the baby if he couldn't get it out. What if it was born a walker?

Then there was a small part of his brain that wasn't scared at all if she had a baby. A part of him wanted to have that with her, wanted to be a man that had a family. It terrified him, sure, but if it happened, it would be with her. Maybe one day they'd get there. Maybe one day she'd want him that way, too. If he pushed away all the bad things that could happen, he could see her holding his baby, and that filled him with something he couldn't quite put a name to.

Chances were small though, he kept reminding himself. He couldn't even remember the last time Beth had been on the rag, and he was smart enough to know that if a woman didn't have a period, it would be pretty hard to knock her up.

He'd officially given himself a mindfuck by the time the sun was rising.

_Christ_.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and got out of bed. The best thing he could do right now was forget about all of it and make her something to eat.

She got up every morning before him and had him something to take with him if he was going out to hunt. Even if he was staying in, she made breakfast. It was time for him to do something like that for her, and since there was no chance of getting sleep any time soon, he started heating some water to make oatmeal.

"Ya look like you're thinkin' hard."

He turned quickly and his jaw dropped.

Her hair was wild and tossed over her bare left shoulder. The blanket was pulled up across her chest where she held it up with one hand, and her lips still looked swollen. Beth smiled at him and tilted her head to the side before looking down and blushing.

Daryl almost felt a little guilty at the scratches his beard made against her neck, but it made him a little hard, too. Especially seeing that hickey under her ear.

She still hadn't looked up, so he adjusted himself, walked over to the bed, and kissed her hard, making her lie back on the pillows. He didn't move the blanket, though. Wasn't anyway that he'd try to mess around this morning.

"Ya feelin' all right?" His fingers grazed the side of her neck and he shifted his eyes to meet hers.

Beth nodded, biting her bottom lip, and then said, "A little sore, but it's a good sore—if that makes any sense."

"Naw, ya crazy."

God, she was beautiful. She laughed and closed her eyes. He was the luckiest bastard in this shitty world.

"Made ya food." He curled a strand of her hair around his finger and looked away from her lips.

"Breakfast in bed?" She quirked an eyebrow, and he gave her a half grin. "Ya tryin' to get laid, Dixon?"

His coughed out a laugh and stood up. "Think it's best if we go on a run before we do that again."

Beth sat up and wrapped the blanket around her better before standing and going to the table. "Why? Do we really need to go to the store? We got lots of stuff."

He placed her bowl in front of her and sat down with his own. "Figure while it's cold, we'll stock up, and maybe we won't have to go out as much over the warm months." He cleared his throat and stared at her. "Plus, we need rubbers if we're gonna do that again, and I really hope ya want to. It'll be a lot better next time."

Beth paled a little but seemed to recover quickly and joked, "Better than that? Think highly of yourself, don't ya?"

Shrugging, he took a bite of his food. They ate in silence, but he watched her out of the corner of his eye and felt like he'd been put under a spell or some shit.

"Ya starin' at me," she whispered, not looking up.

"You're the most beautiful thang I've ever seen," he whispered back, finally allowing himself to say something true out loud in the daylight. "Cain't help lookin'."

Beth blushed and met his gaze. "Ya worried, aren't ya?"

He knew exactly what she was talking about, and he nodded. No use in denying it.

"I think we're safe, and if we aren't, we'll be okay." She looked down at her food. "I don't want to seem like I'm brushin' aside somethin' that's huge, either. I just don't think we need to worry about it just yet. We'll be careful from now on."

She reached across the table, and he took her hand without thinking.

"I don't wanna be the reason ya end up hurtin'." He squeezed her hand. "Was that somethin' ya wanted? Ya know, before?"

Beth took her hand back and shrugged before picking up her spoon. "Don't really know. I guess I always thought I would. Then I took care of Judith, and it was natural. Did ya?"

Daryl snorted. "Before this? Hell naw." She quirked an eyebrow, clearly not missing that his answer left out the _now_ part. He didn't give her a chance to ask him about it. Instead, he told herself something that no one knew. "Merle had a kid."

He took a bite of food and could feel Beth's stare.

"A little girl. He didn't know where they moved to, though, so when all this shit happened, he couldn't find her. But, he wanted to. I think she was four or five." He forced himself to take another bite. "Never saw her. Didn't even know she was alive until Merle told me when we were hidin' out in the woods."

"That's awful."

"Yeah, Dixon men ain't the best fathers."

Beth sighed and stirred her oatmeal. "I think ya might surprise yaself, Daryl."

"Like ya said, we don't gotta worry about it just yet. We do need to go out again, though."

"Ya really think that we should gather up that much stuff ahead of time?"

"Don't see why not. If tha walkers ain't posin' much of a threat, we should get as much as we can, then we won't have to go out later when they're back to movin' around with purpose."

Beth nodded. "Make sense. Wish we had an atlas."

"We'll get one," he said quickly, hating that he hadn't thought of it already. "Make things a whole lot easier."

Beth finished her food and made to stand, but Daryl reached out and took the bowl first. "I got this."

He rinsed the dishes and set them aside, and then he turned and leaned against the counter.

"I think we should go back to tha prison."

She said it so quietly he thought that he imagined it at first. But then she repeated it, and he frowned, confused.

"What tha fuck for?"

Beth started fidgeting with the covers around her body and shrugged. "Since the walkers are so slow, I thought we could just see who didn't make it."

Daryl folded his arms over his chest and took his thumbnail between his teeth. "Beth." He shook his head and walked toward her. "Ain't nothin' left of anyone that didn't make it out. There were too many of 'em coming through the fences to leave any dead on the ground."

He watched as she sighed and wiped her cheek. "Even Daddy?"

"Yeah, even him."

She just nodded before standing and walking over to him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face in his chest.

"Let's go get your bike, at least."

He scoffed. "Why ya want that loud-ass thang?"

"Always wanted to ride on it with ya." She peeked up at him and grinned. "Think it would be a fun time."

He cupped the back of her neck and leaned down, kissing her softly before smirking. "I'll show ya a fun time, baby."

* * *

He didn't, though. Instead, Daryl sat in the chair, legs sprawled out in front of him as he watched her dress for their run. He didn't touch her with his hands, but he might as well have. She was about to jump him when he stood and walked over to the door.

"I'll get thangs ready to go," he muttered and picked up his bow.

"Ya act like ya cain't control yaself." She smirked, pulling up her jeans.

"Christ, woman. After last night, I cain't. Just wanna toss ya back on the bed and go at it."

Beth smiled and tried to think of something to say to tease him, but he just walked out.

Soon they were slowly driving between trees out to the road, but instead of being all the way in the passenger seat, she was riding in the middle with his arm around her.

He joked about her riding bitch when she scooted over, but she put her hand on his thigh, and he shut up real fast. Maybe after they were done scavenging, she'd move her hand a little higher on the way home.

At the first gas station they saw, Daryl parked and ran inside. He came out with an atlas, wiping his knife against his jeans.

"Two," he answered before she could even ask. He handed her the atlas and said, "We're in Leon. Find us a little bigger of a town."

Beth glanced over the map of Georgia and finally got her bearings. "We're only about two hours from the farm," she whispered, tracing a finger over her hometown's name.

Daryl pointed down a little ways in the opposite direction. "About two hours from the prison."

"Why did it take us so long to find the cabin then?"

Daryl cranked the truck and shrugged. "We spent a few days just running in a daze."

"I don't want to go back to the farm again. Ever." She cleared her throat and looked over the map. "Minden is about 30 miles away, and it's pretty decent sized. What exactly are we looking for?"

"More gas, maybe a little trailer for supplies that won't fit in the bed, and whatever else we can grab. I'm hoping since it's bigger that we won't run into many people, if any."

"It's been a long time since we actually saw someone." Beth tried to hide the emotion in her voice.

Daryl must have heard it anyway because he glanced in her direction. "Ain't gonna let that happen again. Don't worry."

She cuddled into his side and watched as they moved from country to not quite city. It was a decent-sized town, but it wasn't as big as Atlanta or Savannah. They had a Starbucks, and that made it better than the town she grew up in.

The first two places they stopped at were hardware stores. Daryl wanted to go into the Lowe's and look around, but the doors were locked and no telling how many walkers had been trapped inside when they were closed. He settled for mom and pop stores and got several gas cans and a few feet of water hose to syphon out gas from any old cars they might come across.

Beth was in charge of the gardening stuff and things used for canning. By the time they finished at the second place, she had enough mason jars and pectin to can for a while. She just needed a huge pot and some canning accessories to be really serious about saving their food.

If only she could talk him into going into Walmart, she knew she could find everything she needed really fast, but he wasn't too interested in going near the big stores after Lowe's.

"Where to now?" he asked as he slammed the driver's side door.

Beth looked his way and grinned. "Wally World?"

Daryl cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "Not a fuckin' chance."

"Oh, c'mon! Everything I need is in there!" She huffed.

"Yeah, I bet it is. Everythin' we both need is in that store, and probably a lot of it, but standin' between us and those thangs is a bunch of fuckin' walkers that've been without anythin' to eat for months."

"We can sneak in through the gardening center, stick to the edges, and be super quiet."

"No." He drove out onto the main road, bypassing some struggling walkers in the parking lot.

They ended up near the Walmart anyway. The store was across the highway from a pharmacy/gift shop. She looked over the shelves for anything they could use, and Daryl hopped over the counter toward the ransacked pharmacy area.

He said he knew what he was looking for and she believed him. She idly wondered if he ever did drugs with Merle and decided that he probably did. Maybe not hard stuff, though.

They got a few things that would be good to have then returned to the car. There was one walker close enough to need to be taken care of, and Daryl pulled up his crossbow quickly, taking care of the problem.

"Hey!"

Daryl grabbed Beth and pushed her behind him, aiming the bow at the man who had rounded the corner.

"Whoa! I don't want any trouble. Y'all got a camp near here?"

He was a younger guy, probably midtwenties, with shaggy hair. He was really thin.

"We don't take in anybody." Daryl kept his bow trained on the man.

"Just a little food, man. Please. I've been walkin' forever."

Daryl shrugged. "Comes down to ya eatin' or her? It's gonna be her."

He looked about to cry, and Beth whispered against Daryl's neck. "Just give him a little. He's not gonna last much longer, anyway."

They all stood in silence for a minute before Daryl dropped his bow. "Ya make one wrong move, and I'll put an arrow through ya, ya got me, boy?"

"Yes, sir." The man sagged in relief. "Thank you so much. I've been on the run for the last few weeks. There's this place called Terminus that I was at, but whatever you do, don't fuckin' go there."

Beth tried to move around Daryl, but he pulled on her hip. "Ya stay with me, damn it. Don't go listenin' to that bleedin' heart sob story bullshit. He shoulda known better than to go someplace like that."

"He just wanted to be safe," she said quietly as he picked up some canned food and put it in a plastic sack with an extra can opener he'd picked up.

"Yeah, we heard of that place," Daryl said to the guy in a harsh voice. "Seemed like a buncha horseshit to me. Who offers sanctuary like that?"

"Cannibals," the man whispered, wiping his cheek.

Daryl froze and pushed me toward the truck.

"Tha fuck ya say?"

"We came through the gates, and they acted so nice, but they must have drugged us with some food right when we came in because we all woke up in a railcar. Then they started picking us off one by one."

"How ya know they were eatin' 'em?"

He took the bag from Daryl and then met Beth's eyes. She shivered at the blank look there and gripped Daryl's vest. "They took me and my brother out of the car and they shot him in the head, and two men started hacking him up. Walkers got through the gate, though, and I ran. I went through a side room and saw body parts, and in another room it was like a smokehouse. Meat hung everywhere. I'm tellin' ya, they had lots of fuckin' meat, and they didn't have animals they were gettin' it from.

"Ya sure I cain't stay with y'all? I'm a good man."

"Get in tha car, Beth."

"C'mon! Please!" The man dropped to his knees and started begging, but Daryl just backed away. She ducked into the car, and he shut the door behind her.

Beth watched as Daryl walked over to the man and kneeled down. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw Daryl drop a knife down beside the man then get up and walk away.

Once they were driving again, Daryl reached for her hand.

"He ain't gonna last. He's all fucked up inside now."

"How do ya know?"

"I seen that look before."

Beth shook her head. "He's been through somethin' awful. Anyone would look like that."

"No, not everyone has _that_ look." He stared at her pointedly before looking back out at the road. "Left him some food and a knife he can either use to protect himself or end it. That's more than he had before he rounded that buildin' and spotted us."

She knew he was right, so she nodded and looked out the window. Daryl let go of her hand and focused on where they were going next. After several minutes of silence, she spoke again. "It sucks that the shitty people are surviving well, and we're scavenging around like squirrels."

Daryl laughed loudly as he turned into the parking lot of a shopping center.

"I got some nuts for ya."

Beth turned her head quickly and saw him smirking, one hand on the wheel, his other arm propped against the open window. He looked years younger in that moment.

"Oh my gosh, you're like a teenage boy!"

He shrugged and pulled into a space in the middle of the empty parking lot. "Ya like me." He was still grinning over at her, and she couldn't resist scooting back to the middle of the bench seat and pulling him in for a kiss.

"I more than like ya, Daryl," she whispered against his lips when she pulled back. His eyes were still closed there was a small half grin turning up his lips.

"A man always likes hearin' that."

Beth traced his scruffy jaw with her fingers and pressed her lips to his again, forgetting for a moment the dark cloud that had settled over them.


	13. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead

Thank you so much to Jen328. This chapter was a hot mess of a time jump, and she straightened it all up for you. Thank you to all those who are continuing to read and review! I love to hear your thoughts, and I can't wait to see what you think of this chapter. **bites nails**

Off ya go…

* * *

The weeks following their trip to Minden passed quickly. They organized all they had found and put away what they wouldn't need until the spring. Beth hadn't talked him into going to Walmart like she wanted, but he found her the stuff she needed at other little stores.

Neither mentioned the man again, but on the way back to the cabin, Daryl stopped at every single railroad crossing, and if there was a sign advertising Terminus, he put a huge X through it and wrote DEATH in big letters. He figured it would warn off the people who saw it, and if they continued, then it was their ass not his.

He thought Beth might want to go there and see if any of their group went through, but she never brought it up. Maybe she felt the same way he did—even if they did go there, it was too late to help them now without ending up dead, too. Still, he didn't think anyone who made it out of the prison would walk into a trap like that.

So on one particularly cold day, they used some of their valuable gas and went back to the prison. There were a few walkers around, but they took care of them pretty fast. Neither went inside the cellblock where they had lived; instead, they walked around the prison yard, staring at the destruction.

He watched as Beth walked to the area where her father had been killed, but there wasn't anything out there to see; he'd already looked when she was sitting at the base of the guard tower.

When Daryl was certain she was all right, he loaded his bike into the back of the truck with the makeshift ramp he'd created from a slab of wood and some cinderblocks. He had some rope and bungee cords to keep it in place, but he wouldn't be too pissed if leaned over during the drive.

He wouldn't be able to drive it around much, anyway. The real reason they went to the prison was so Beth could have some closure—even if she made it seem like it was to retrieve his bike.

When she came back over to the truck, her cheeks were wind chapped and she'd been crying. He pulled her into a hug then opened the door of the truck for her.

They rode in silence for most of the way back to the cabin before Beth started talking again.

"Didn't see Maggie around anywhere." Beth spoke quietly. She was running her fingers over his hand and didn't look up.

"Naw, neither did I."

"I think she got out. Tha bus was gone, so I'm sure that her and Glenn got out."

Daryl just nodded and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. If it made her feel better to think they survived, he wouldn't say otherwise. Truth was, until they saw their bodies or them as walkers, they couldn't assume they hadn't gotten out. He knew that Maggie probably thought the same thing about Beth, and Glenn probably nodded along with her, too, if they were still alive.

* * *

That had been their last trip out, and he didn't plan on making another until late in the summer. The extreme heat had a slowing effect on the walkers, too. Not nearly as much as the cold, but it was better than nothing. That's when he'd take the bike and Beth for a ride. It was too cold now, and he didn't need either of them getting sick.

Everything else was turning out pretty good for them. They had plenty of food, a warm place to sleep, a whole lot of rubbers courtesy of the twenty different stores he'd looted while in Minden.

She'd laughed at him every time he added more to their bags, but he just wanted to be prepared. He just dipped his head and turned up his lips into that half-grin that made her flush and dropped another box into his pack. She stopped giggling so much when he looked her like that, and it sorta made him feel like a badass.

He'd never had much game when it came to women, but he'd swear Beth thought he was a fuckin' playboy or something. She'd been fishing for more details about his past relationships lately, but she'd laugh it off when he'd get snippy. He started to get offended by her assumptions, especially after the first time he went down on her.

She'd had her arm thrown over her eyes and one hand still tangled in his hair, and he was about two seconds from dropping his pants and grabbing a condom when she asked, "God, Daryl, where'd ya learn to do that?"

He'd stilled is movements, debating whether to tell her the truth or just ignore her question. In the end, he decided that she might like to know they had something they shared with only each other, so he shook off his self-consciousness and said, "First time, too."

"No way." She sat up, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "You're tellin' stories."

Daryl didn't like her saying that or the way she huffed and lay back down.

"Ain't got nothin' to lie about." He stood up from the bed, buckled his belt, and grabbed his shirt and vest. "Damn, woman, you ruin the mood, don't ya? Gotta bust my balls over eatin' pussy?"

When he was crude, she'd usually blush and look away, but that time, she just stared at him as he dressed. She must have known she'd hit a nerve because she looked remorseful immediately. Still, times like that he couldn't stop himself from folding in and making a run for it.

"Daryl, babe, I'm sorry." She wrapped the blanket around her and tried to follow him, but he was already out the door. "Daryl!"

He'd waved over his shoulder and slipped under the fence.

There was something specific she wanted to ask him, and he was just waiting for her to gather up the nerve to do it. In the meantime, she was really testing his patience with all these nosy-ass questions and sarcastic comments.

Over the next few days, Beth was pissier than usual. Sure, she'd talk him and help out, but her answers were short, and she'd lay down at night with her back to him, letting him know that she wasn't interested in touching him.

He'd put up with as long as he could take. Daryl didn't want to talk about this with her at all, but if he didn't, they'd stay sorta fighting. When he came back to the cabin after keeping his snares, Beth was curled up in bed with her back to door—again. Daryl barred the door and pulled off his vest and shirt then toed off his boots before climbing into bed behind her.

He knew she was awake and was just trying to prove her point about being angry by laying there when she should have been up fixing dinner. He probably should have just stayed that night she'd gotten ticked off and told her to say what she wanted to say and be done with it, but he hadn't and he'd been paying for it.

Daryl sighed heavily and bit the bullet. "Just ask me what ya want to know, and we can put all this shit behind us."

Beth froze against him, and after a few seconds, she said, "I'm sorry for sayin' ya lied. It was just so hard to believe." She lowered her voice. "If it helps, you're really good at it."

Daryl snorted and shook his head. "Thanks."

She fiddled with his fingers where they rested on her stomach and spoke quietly. "Were ya ever with anyone from our group? That's what I've been wonderin'. If we ever found 'em again, would you feel like ya've been unfaithful to 'er?"

"Beth, woman, I swear." He rolled away and looked up at the ceiling.

"Ya have." Her voice was hard, and she reached over and pinched his side.

"Ain't like ya think." He looked over at her and ran a hand through her hair. "Can feel ya mind runnin' a million miles an hour."

She raised an eyebrow at him and her lips were a thin line as she said, "Then tell me how it really is. Who was it?"

He shook his head and groaned.

"It was Carol, wasn't it?"

He groaned again and turned his eyes away from hers and into the pillow. "Ain't like ya think."

"Then tell me!" She pushed his shoulder and tried to get him to face her again.

"After tha barn and findin' Sophia, she came to my tent and she kissed me. I stopped it pretty quick, but for a few nights after that, she slept beside me. It was a hard time for her." He shrugged and turned his head a little so Beth could see his face. "Next time was after I found her in the prison when we thought she was dead. I wasn't too sure what I was feelin', but I kissed her that time. Things got a little heated, and she was undoing my shirt and my hands were under hers when I pulled away. I was just happy to have her back. She's a really good friend, but that's as far as it goes, as far as we went. She got a little snippy with me because I stopped, and I bitched at her about not wantin' that with her. Things got rough between us for a little while. She tried a couple more times, but nothin' happened. She moved on.

"She's got a similar story to mine, I guess. We're both sorta white trash, come from abusive homes. Didn't want her like that, though."

"Ya miss her?" Beth pressed her hand to her temple and shook her head.

"Yeah," he answered honestly. "About as much as I miss the others. I hope she's all right. Maybe she ran into some of ours after all the shit happened with the Governor."

"Maybe."

"That all ya got on your mind?" He rolled away and planted his feet on the floor.

Beth smiled tightly and nodded. "Yeah. That was it."

"I'll make dinner tonight." Daryl stood up and went to the cabinet. For some reason, talking didn't seem to have relieved any of her worries, but he was just going to try and move on and maybe she would, too. "Ya want peas or green beans?"

* * *

She wasn't sure what she thought about what Daryl had said. Deep down, she already figured that something had happened with Carol, and while she was glad it hadn't gone further, she was also nervous that he had put himself out there with her and then pulled away.

Beth had never known Daryl to go back after making a decision or react impulsively, so that he stopped was a big deal, but it seemed even bigger that he actually started it. Add to that him not explaining the couple of times, and she felt something uncomfortable curl in her chest.

Sometimes she forgot that she was new to the relationship thing and hated that she was so insecure and jealous. Especially considering that she was the only person with him now.

Things got better, though. As the end of winter turned to spring and the cool breezes of spring turned to the hot of early summer, she and Daryl got closer, and she didn't even think that was possible.

He stopped being surly and walking out, and she stopped pestering him about stuff that she knew he was uncomfortable with. Beth wondered if maybe his behavior was a result of her not being so invasive, but she shrugged it off.

Outside the cabin, he was playful wither her. He'd ring his fingers in her belt loops and pull her to him for quick kisses, or he'd tug on her ponytail to get her attention. Occasionally, he'd signal his approach by whistling at her. That only happened when she was bent over, tending to their fledgling garden.

She'd shake her butt at him and go back to pulling out weeds or watering their vegetables. Wiggling in his direction always earned her a smack on the ass when he passed, but she'd just laugh and smile at him over her shoulder.

Before all of this, she'd known that Daryl was good man. He provided, he worked hard, he put others before himself at every turn. Since the fall and their months at the cabin, she knew he was great man. He was still all those things like before, but she could add _kind_ and _gentle_ to the list now. She found out that he was passionate and full of love, even if he didn't say it out loud. He'd been lonely before, but now, he had her and she had him. When the day was over and they'd finished dinner, he'd pull her onto his lap and ask her sing for him then he'd take her to bed and they'd both pass out, exhausted, a little while later.

Who knew the end of the world would be the best time of her life?

Daryl calling her name drew her out of her thoughts, and she looked over her shoulder as he held up two rabbits. It was the first meat they'd had in at least a month. With the weather turning pretty hot, Daryl said they'd find more food.

It also meant that the walkers would be feeling better, too, and they'd need to be careful when going outside the fence.

Beth already didn't leave the yard unless Daryl was with her. He'd lost his mind when he couldn't find her about a week ago.

She'd walked down the creek a little ways, hoping to see if it got any deeper so they could bathe outside in the summer months, when she heard him calling her name louder than he ever had before.

Worried that he'd draw attention from any straggling walkers nearby, she'd run back to the cabin. When she saw him, he was scouring the ground—trying to find her tracks, she imagined.

"Daryl? Ya all right?" she asked as she jogged up to the fence.

"What tha fuck ya doin' out there? Don't ya know how many walkers I've dragged up in the last three days?" He pointed to the ground. "Get ya ass under the fence."

Beth raised an eyebrow but scooted under.

"Ya ain't allowed out there by yaself," he added when she stood up.

She laughed. "Daryl, I think ya need to calm down. I was bein' careful. I didn't go far. Now, if ya really feel all that protective of me, ya can ask me not to go outside tha fence without ya, but ya ain't gonna act like my daddy."

"Ya testin' my patience, woman." He turned, walked to the porch, and slouched down in the chair that she'd brought out there.

Beth followed and sat down on his leg. "I'm sorry I made ya worry."

"I'm sorry I acted like an asshole when I saw ya on tha other side of the fence."

It had been good to apologize. They'd actually gotten really good at what came after the apology, too, she thought with a smile. He'd tell her what he wanted her to do, and she wasn't shy anymore about giving him directions, either.

"Those look good," she said, nodding to the rabbits.

"Fat little bastards, aren't they? Been hiding out and eatin' all the shit they can find." He slid under the fence and grinned. "How ya want 'em cooked?"

"Fried with gravy."

He laughed and kissed her hard. "I done fucked the sense out of ya, haven't I?"

Beth rolled her eyes and looked away, trying to hide her smile. "Don't ask me questions about food. Ya know how I get."

She'd become obsessed recently, thinking about all the foods she used to eat and how nothing they made measured up. Daryl thought she was insane—at least they had food—and she knew she was being silly.

"Ya'd think ya were knocked up." He smirked and started cleaning the rabbits while they sat on the porch steps.

She hadn't gotten her period, but she was pretty sure she wasn't pregnant, either. She'd felt exactly the same, and by now she should have been puking and terribly tired and probably have a small bump. At least that was how Lori had felt during the early days of her pregnancy.

"Awww, ya wanna be my baby daddy, Daryl?" She put a hand over her heart and sighed.

"Don't say shit like that. Makes ya sound trashy," he muttered, concentrating on what he was doing.

"If we ever find the others, my sister is gonna have your balls, Dixon."

Daryl actually laughed out loud and looked up at her. "Don't I know that. Your daddy would beat my ass all over Georgia if he was around and knew what I was doin' with ya."

"My daddy liked you, Daryl."

He stopped skinning the rabbit and gave her his full attention. "He did. He thought I was a good guy. Gave me lots of chances to prove myself and depended on me a lot. But there's a big damn difference in knowin' someone is good and lettin' him mess around with your daughter."

Beth huffed and rolled her eyes. "I knew Daddy a lot longer than ya did, so I think I get to say what he would and wouldn't like. He liked ya, and he wouldn't mind us bein' together so long as ya were good to me."

Then he did that stupid grin that made her melt into a puddle and asked, "Am I good to ya, girl?"

Knowing good and well he wasn't talking about bringing home dinner, she tugged on his hair as she passed him on the steps.

"Remains to be seen."

"Ya give me a minute, and I'll show ya." He grabbed his knife and picked up the rabbit again.

Beth went inside and looked around for her scissors. When she came back out, Daryl was finishing up with the second rabbit.

"Get on back in there." He pointed to the door, walking toward her. "Got plans."

"Nope." She motioned with the scissors to the chair, and he groaned.

"Why ya always wanna cut my damn hair."

"So ya cain't hide those eyes from me."

Daryl closed his eyes and tilted his head so she could get a better look at his hair. For a minute, she just ran her fingers through his hair and smiled. She loved the feel of him—all of him.

"Don't mess up. Don't want tha walkers makin' fun of me," he mumbled. He liked her touching him, too. He was just too stubborn to admit it.

* * *

Beth and Daryl huddled against the porch window, peeping through the opening between the slats, watching the herd pass by.

Neither spoke, but he knew she was scared as hell because she was shaking. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

They'd heard the explosion a few hours ago, and they immediately pulled the dead walkers closer along the fence and used some of their blood to coat the barbed wire. Then they fled inside and barred the door.

While they were doing all that, two more explosions sounded and seemed to rock the ground. Whatever had happened, it happened within ten miles of where they were, he guessed.

Once inside, they washed off quickly and changed clothes. After that, Beth packed several bags, and he had them waiting by the door in case they needed to run fast.

The truck wasn't that far, but he needed a diversion in case something got through their fence. When the first walkers showed up, he grabbed the gas can they stored in the corner and poured some into one of Beth's mason jars. He dipped a cloth in kerosene from their lamp and secured the lid around it loosely.

"What's that called?" Beth whispered as he set it on the counter beside the window over the sink.

He laughed softly. "Don't really know. Merle just said, 'Hold my beer and watch this.' Worked then. It'll work now."

Now, a bigger herd than he had ever seen stumbled through the woods toward the noise. Daryl could smell the smoke in the air, so he knew whatever went down was big and probably crawling with walkers from all over.

Their fence stood strong so far. Most of the walkers missed it altogether, but a few got caught and were dragged along the barbs, leaving scraps of decaying skin hanging behind.

"Go lay down. I'll keep a watch on this." His voice was barely audible.

Beth gasped beside him and slapped a hand over her mouth. Daryl turned back to the crack and saw what had shocked her.

Trudging along was a new fairly new walker, judging by its appearance.

Daryl swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away. If he could, he'd send an arrow out and end Tyreese's misery, but there was no way to do that without drawing attention.

Instead, they watched their old friend through the dying light of day until he was out of sight.


	14. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you Jen for editing this! Thank you to all those who read and continue to review!

I really love reading your thoughts and seeing how excited you are about the story.

Just so you know, this chapter also earns its 'M' rating.

* * *

For two days after the last of the walkers disappeared into the trees, neither left the cabin.

Beth was lost in her own thoughts a lot of the time, and Daryl was worried that walkers would turn around and head back in their direction after they found the source of the noise. It stormed during that time, so the garden was watered and fine. They just hunkered down and kept quiet—most of the time, at least.

To keep her mind off things, Beth made a calendar.

"Well, it stormed and didn't bring down a cold front. It's humid, everything is growing all over, and our garden is starting to sprout. I declare this day May fifteenth. And it's a Thursday."

Daryl shrugged. "That works for me."

Hell, if she wanted to keep the days, he didn't see any harm in it. It would also help them keep track of how long they'd been on their own. As best as Daryl could figure, it had been about November when the governor attacked the prison, so he and Beth had been on their own nearly seven months.

They didn't know how many of their group were still around, but when it got really hot, they'd go through some nearby towns for supplies and see if they could find any clues as to if they'd been there.

Seeing Tyreese had lit a fire under him and made him realize they needed to be actively looking for the others. He felt like shit some days for getting so wrapped up in his own little world and leaving them out to dry. Then he'd think maybe they'd got lucky like him and had found a good place to lie low.

Beth was usually really good at taking his mind off things when he got caught up in his own head, which is what lead to them being only sorta quiet when the herd was passing.

"When's your birthday?" she asked as she drew several calendar boxes in the notebook she'd taken from a store on one of their runs. "Mine is November sixteenth. I imagine that happened after the prison, so I'm nineteen now!"

"Makes me feel like I'm less of a pervert," he joked and flicked her ponytail.

She rolled her eyes and kept making her boxes. Truth was, he never really felt bad about their age difference. Beth knew her own mind, and he damn sure didn't force her. He'd been nervous to start anything with her because he didn't think Hershel would have approved and because he was afraid of depending on someone like that.

He'd overcome both of those things pretty much. Still didn't say how he felt, but he showed her, and he imagined she was right. As long as he treated her well, Hershel would have been fine with them together.

"Your birthday, Daryl?" she asked again, ignoring his comment completely.

"August first."

She looked up and smiled. "I got time to find ya a gift, then."

Instead of being serious and telling her he didn't want any gifts or that his birthdays had always been shit, he smirked and palmed his dick. "I know what ya can give me."

Beth scoffed. "So much for not bein' a pervert."

Daryl shrugged and took one of his last cigarettes out of the pack.

"How old do ya think ya are?"

He lit the end and took a deep pull. "Thirty-four, thirty-five? Don't know for sure."

"Let's say you're thirty-four and will turn thirty-five, okay?"

"Sure, baby. Fine by me."

The rest of the day was filled with more questions about different dates. She smiled as she wrote down their anniversary, or as close as she could guess, into a box toward the end of January and frowned as she circled the date of the explosions days before.

He didn't really get why she was putting so much effort into creating a timeline, but he didn't question her. This was how she survived. She liked dates and events to look forward to and celebrate, and well, he just needed her.

It was funny how that shift had happened so quietly for him. One day he was certain she was the just the bright spot in his world, and then she _became_ the world. Even with all the chaos surrounding them, he wanted to experience everything with her. He wanted a tangible connection between them so that when she realized just how much better she could do, he'd still have something of hers. What they had was too good to be true for him, and there was a voice in the back of his mind that said she'd leave.

It was overwhelming to think about needing someone that much, and he often shook his head at the thought of Carol being meant for that in his life. If anything, the last few months had taught him that he often confused friendship with romantic feelings, and that happiness, relief—or hell, even sadness or anger—didn't need to be shown through physical affection.

If they were found, he'd snap someone's neck if they came at Beth like he did that one day with Carol. Ain't no one but him laying their hands or lips on hers.

Daryl rolled his shoulders and sighed before going to lay on the bed. It was early in the evening and Beth had just started to make dinner, so there wasn't much left for him to do. Listening to Beth sing, he took his lighter from his pocket and started tossing it up in the air.

She hit a particularly beautiful part of the hymn, and he glanced over at her while the lighter was still in the air. It landed on his chest and bounced onto the floor, finally skidding to a stop under the bed.

Beth jumped and turned around quickly with her hand over her heart.

"Just dropped my lighter. Calm your nerves," he muttered, embarrassed that he'd scared her. She turned back to the stove, letting out a deep breath but not saying anything in response.

Daryl leaned over the bed to see underneath and grabbed his lighter. He reached up and put it on the nightstand and then grabbed the book that lay just under the edge of the bed.

He remembered her reaction so many days ago when he asked what it was about, so he picked it up with a shrug. He'd see what all that blushing was about. When he finally looked at the cover, he blinked a few times, thinking he was seeing things, then read the title a second time.

_What the Duke Requires_

"Tha fuck?" he said under his breath and looked at the woman clinging to the half-dressed man on the cover.

Beth was still in her own world, so he flicked through the pages, and his eyes widened on the words in the middle of the book.

* * *

Beth finished combining the different vegetables together along with some canned chicken broth to make their soup that night. She was going to cook some of their brown rice in little bit. It wouldn't be a big meal, but it would definitely fill them up.

Turning around to look at Daryl, she nearly choked on her tongue when she saw the shit-eating grin on his face.

"Well, well, well." He shook the book at her. "Miss Greene, ya got some explain' to do."

Beth was sure her face turned the color of a tomato as she marched across the room to pull the book from his hands.

"Give it back to me, Daryl."

"Ya like this shit?" He smirked, opening the book to where his finger was marking the page. "She writhed underneath him as his fingers plundered her depths." He cocked an eyebrow. " 'Edmund!' she screamed and gripped the bed sheets. Her nectar flooded from her core and flavor burst across his tongue like ambrosia."

Beth didn't know it was possible to turn redder or be more embarrassed until he read the last sentence in that lazy drawl of his.

"Oh, good Lord." She palmed her cheeks. "Please, put the book up."

"What tha fuck happened to that woman? She need a doctor?" He laughed and she watched his eyes skim down the page. "Ohhhh, this is where it gets good!" Daryl hopped over the bed as she charged toward him. "Rosalinda, bucked off the bed as he speared her secret place with his staff, immediately letting herself go with pleasure."

"Daryl Dixon!" Beth yelled, trying to run around the bed to him again, but he just hopped back over, almost doubling over with laughter.

"Did he just stab her in the pussy?"

"I swear on all thangs holy, if ya don't put that book down, I'ma shoot ya with your own bow."

"C'mon now. Thangs are just getting good for ol' Edmunch here." She didn't laugh at his joke, but he did. "Oh yeah, here we go. 'Her velvet insides pulsed around his man root and he lost all control. 'I love you, Rosa!' he confessed in a ragged whimper.' "

That did it. He started laughing uncontrollably, and it allowed Beth to grab the book and toss it into the fire in the stove.

"What a fuckin' pussy. He gets a nut and starts cryin' about love." He flopped back on the bed. "That shit's ridiculous. Ya didn't think that was what sex was like, did ya? Lord have mercy." He chuckled softly before wiping his eyes.

"You're such an asshole." Beth slapped his leg and went back to the stove.

He gathered himself together, walked over to her, and circled her waist with his arms. "Oh, baby, I's just playin'." He nipped at her neck and whispered against her jaw. "Want me to plunder your depths?"

"Dear Lord, Daryl." She shook her head and laughed for the first time. "That's so embarrassin'."

"Hell, I'll even talk dirty, too. Ears'll probably turn pink every time I look at ya after for awhile, but I know ya like it when I whisper in your ear," he said the last word they way he would if he were in bed with her, and goosebumps popped up along her skin. "Yeah, ya like that."

"You're dangerous," she breathed, keeping her eyes on the soup.

"Yeah?" He ran his nose along her neck.

"Uh-huh." She turned her head to the side, letting his lips skim across her skin. "Cain't ever say no to ya."

"Do ya want to?" Daryl palmed her stomach and her pulled her back to him, rubbing his hard-on against her.

"Never."

"Gimme those lips."

She turned her head to the side and let him lead their kiss.

Since they'd become intimate, Beth learned that Daryl never did anything half-assed. If he kissed her, it was hard and purposeful. When they made love, he did it with one goal in my mind—and it wasn't getting himself off.

She turned in his arms as he deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Daryl's hands skimmed down her back, and when he got to her butt, he lifted her. He did this a lot. Said he like her all wrapped around him.

When he reached the bed, he laid her back and slid her jeans down her legs. He tossed them across the room along with her panties then reached behind his neck and tugged his beater over his head.

As he started to unbuckle his belt, he smirked down at her. "Whatcha waitin' for?" He reached out and thumbed the edge of her t-shirt. "Wanna see your tits."

Beth made a face and he laughed. "Ya know I don't like that word."

Instead of undressing, he leaned over her and pushed her back to the bed.

"I ain't sayin' breasts." His forehead scrunched up. He could be so cute when he wanted to be. "Boobs is stupid. Boobs." He drew out the _oo_ sound in the middle and sounded like a cow.

Daryl kissed her again and drew her bottom lip into his mouth before biting down softly. "C'mon, baby, let me see ya titties now."

"Such a charmer." She gasped as he sucked on the skin of her neck. "I don't understand why I don't strip down every time ya walk in."

He grinned and yanked on her shirt. "I ask myself tha same damn question."

Beth had to laugh at his words as she sat up and helped him pull off her shirt and bra, and then he threw them somewhere behind them.

"Betcha already wet," he whispered against her cheek as he ran his hand down her stomach.

He did that when they were messing around–talked against her skin. It drove her crazy with want, but he did it because he liked to have some privacy when he said those things. If he wasn't looking into her eyes, he wasn't all that uncomfortable. She knew that it was his fear of her reaction that made him do it, but he seemed to have learned fast that she always reacted well and even more so when his words tickled her skin.

She rubbed her thighs together as his lips followed the path of his hand, stopping to lick and suck on her breasts.

Beth gripped his shoulders and moaned as his fingers finally slid home.

"Told ya." He grinned against her pebbled nipple. "Damn, girl, ya already right for my dick."

He pumped his fingers a few more times, making her arch up to met him as he started pulling them further back. In an instant, he pulled back and shed his jeans. Beth reached over to the drawer and grabbed the condom as he watched. The last few times, she'd been the one to remember the protection, and she wondered just how much of that was intentional on his part.

"Put it on me," he said in a ragged voice.

Beth tore the side off and tossed the wrapper on the nightstand. She took him in her hand, sliding up and down and brushing her thumb over his sensitive head a couple of times before he stilled her hand and said, "Now."

As soon as it was in place, she was on her back and he was thrusting inside.

She cried out and put a hand on the back of his neck while the other tangled with his fingers at her hip. He tilted her hips up and repeatedly hit a spot that made her pant against his neck.

"Right there?" He thrust harder. "Ya like that?"

"Yes, oh my God, yes!"

His lips worked over her shoulder, and he sucked hard when she clenched around him.

Daryl untangled their fingers and hooked his arm around her right knee, pulling it up to lay on his shoulder and then leaned back down.

"Fuckin' bendy," he muttered, taking her lips in a deep kiss.

When he sat back a little, he looked down, watching himself slide inside her. His tongue peeked out between his lip, and she wanted to suck on it, but couldn't reach to pull him back down. Besides, she loved when he looked so lost in her, so she settled for sliding her hand down her stomach and watching as his eyes narrowed when she reached right where they were joined. Beth circled her clit, and on each thrust, she let her fingers brush his dick on the way back out. Daryl groaned with each soft touch, and when she started to flick her clit again, she dragged her other hand down his flat stomach, scratching softly.

Daryl bucked against her hard. "Shit. Fuck." He groaned, stilling against her. After a few seconds, he threw her leg off his shoulder and tossed the condom to the floor.

"Fuckin' tease."

Before she could joke, his tongue was between her legs, and she had her head thrown back.

When he did this, she lost all control. She loved to orgasm with him inside her, but looking down and seeing his head between her thighs with his tongue licking her?

She couldn't help herself.

"Oh fuck." She moaned.

Daryl pinched her thigh. "Language."

She could see his grin and knew he liked it, so she kept it up. Soon she was begging him to make her come. Hearing her pleas made him work that much harder.

"Give it to me, baby. Come on my fingers." He skimmed his tongue against her clit.

"Oh please, please…" she mumbled, tugging his hair. "Suck me," she whimpered.

She was gone as soon as his lips replaced his tongue.

"Daryl!" Beth moaned and arched up her hips to his mouth.

Before she could open her eyes, he lifted her up and moved her to straddle his lap.

"Didn't even feel ya move," she said as leaned her forehead against his.

"Ride me?" he asked, lifting her up over his dick.

"Ya ready so soon?"

He laughed breathily. "Not really. Ya makin' so much noise ya got me hard again. Wanna feel ya for a bit."

Beth sank down on him and sighed. "Ya feel so good inside me," she said quietly against his shoulder. She licked and kissed at the marks she'd made on his skin as he raised her over him.

She loved his strength, how he could hold her up or move her any way he wanted.

"Damn, woman, ya should let me go bare all the time. Feel all of ya." He kissed up her jaw to her ear and sucked the lobe into his mouth. When his breath ghosted over the wet skin, she shivered, and he whispered, "Don't ya want my babies?"

There was something in his voice that made Beth try and pull back, but he had her pinned against him as he moved in and out of her body. He hit that same spot as before and she gasped.

"In a heartbeat."

Daryl pulled out and rolled her over, kissing her deep and hard. They stayed like that for a while, just running their hands and lips along some part of the other's body.

When he rolled over on his back, he pulled her to him, arm around her shoulder and the other behind his head.

Beth debated for a brief second before placing her hand on his chest and whispering, "I love ya, ya know?"

Daryl froze against her for a moment before he tilted his head and brushed his lips against hers.

"I know."

* * *

After she fell asleep, he got out of bed and fixed a bowl of soup. He was fuckin' hungry from missing dinner and that workout with Beth, but he wouldn't have traded it for anything.

He looked over at the bed and felt like an asshole again. He'd been on the verge of saying those words back, but for some reason, they'd died in his throat. Damn, he'd asked her about babies not minutes before then clammed up over three little words?

Daryl wasn't good with turning what he felt into what he said, so he took a deep breath and started thinking about actions.

If this had been before, what would have been the next step for him?

With a plan in mind, he put his dish in the sink and then slipped back under the covers, loving the feel of her bare skin against his.


	15. Chapter 14

Ch. 14

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you Jen for editing this and your flails! And thank you to all of you who are reading and reviewing!

This chapter might be a little rough, but I hopefully balanced things out well.

* * *

A few days later, Daryl stared at the dirty window of a deserted tattoo parlor in Minden. He'd left before the sun had risen and walked his bike through the woods to the road so that Beth wouldn't wake up until he was long gone.

He left her note saying he'd be back later that day, but he knew she'd be pissed when he got back to the cabin, especially since he took the bike. She'd been on him to go for a ride since all the walkers had seemed to drift off after the explosions.

As he walked toward the back, he listened carefully for any sounds of walkers in the building. The doors had been locked, so it was a pretty safe bet that there were none inside. There wasn't anything to take from this place that would be useful for survival anyway, so it had been left untouched since its owners had tried to get away.

It didn't take him long to grab the little bottle of black ink and then he was on his way. Next, he went a few miles down the road to a fabric store and grabbed some safety pins.

_Ya such a fuckin' pussy, aren't ya? _Merle's voice rang through his thoughts, and he cringed.

The he more he thought about his idea, the more he hated it and felt stupid. Beth wasn't the type of girl to fall over herself for something like this, he thought. Daryl straddled his bike and seriously considered dumping the shit he'd just grabbed all over the parking lot and going back to the cabin.

"_I love you, ya know?"_ It sang through his thoughts, and he gripped the handles tighter. He needed to do _something_.

_How about just telling her how ya feel? That ya gone soft?_

"Good Lord," he muttered.

When he moved on to his final destination, he just felt like a huge prick, but he kept on going. Even if he had all the things he needed, he could still change his mind later, he reasoned.

If he risked getting this far out already, he might as well go all the way. He laughed as he broke in the building and wondered just what the hell Beth had done to him to make him commit his first B&E at a jewelry store.

* * *

He was gone and so was the bike. Needless to say, Beth was _not _happy.

She paced the porch all afternoon as she waited for him to come through the trees. She'd almost talked herself into walking toward the road and meeting his sorry ass when he finally appeared, looking tired, his front covered in walker blood.

All anger drained away as she sprinted toward the fence and slid under.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she reached him. He looked past her, ignoring her question with a blank look in his eyes. "Daryl?" She touched his hand to help him push the bike beside the truck. "You're not bit, right?"

She knew there was no way he'd come back here if that had been the case, but she couldn't stop the question from bursting out.

"Naw." He shook his head.

She noticed two of his fingers on his left hand were covered in small strips of gauze, and she ran her fingers over them. "This okay? Ya need me to look at it?" She knew he kept stuff in his bag just in case he had an accident, but he probably needed to clean them better than he had.

Daryl yanked his hand back, shaking his head. "I'm fine. Just need to get cleaned up."

She moved out of his way so he could go under the fence. When he got to the middle of their yard, he started taking off his clothes. He tossed everything into a pile except his vest. That he chucked toward the porch. "I'll wash it off later."

"What are ya doin'?" Beth asked as he kneeled down and pulled the lighter from his jeans pocket.

"Ain't no cleanin' this shit. Just gonna burn 'em."

Beth took a few steps back, trying to understand his reasoning. The man was naked in the yard, burning clothes that could have been cleaned.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"Not a damn thang," he muttered. "Stop askin'."

"Daryl, if ya were watching what I'm watching, ya wouldn't think that nothin' happened."

He waited until the fire was burning good then walked into the cabin. She was torn between following him and keeping an eye on the fire. It was really dry, and she didn't want the woods to go up around them because he'd checked out for a little while.

When he came back out a few minutes later, he was dressed in clean clothes, and he took his vest to the creek. Not once did he look in her direction or acknowledge her presence. Once she was satisfied that the fire wasn't going to spread, she walked to the creek as quickly as she could. Normally, she wouldn't have left the fire since it could have drawn attention, but she had to chase after Daryl. Something had happened, and he needed her no matter how much he pushed her away.

"Go away, please," he said quietly as he washed the faded angel wings on the back of the leather.

Beth started to ask again what had happened, but she saw tear tracks on his face, and all of a sudden everything fell into place.

"Who was it?" she whispered, staring blindly at the rushing water.

Daryl coughed and wiped his cheeks but didn't answer.

"Tell me now." Her voice was stronger, but inside she was crumbling.

He shook his head and laid down the vest on the bank. His breaths started to come out quickly as he tried to stand and move away from her. When they were several feet apart, Daryl sat down at the base of a huge oak tree. Only then did he meet her eyes, and what she saw there broke her, and she started to cry, too.

"Found Rick's hat in the road." He cleared his throat. "Thought it was a good sign that they were near, so I started trackin' from that. Looked like somethin' happened at their camp. Dozens of walker footprints, Beth. Everyone was gone, though, so I followed a bunch of walker tracks hopin' I'd spot somethin'." He tilted his head up at the sky, and the next words out of his mouth made her fall to her knees. "They didn't finish eatin' him. I guess they got distracted by another noise 'cause he'd turned. I, uh, took care of it quick, ya know? Wouldn't've wanted Maggie to see him like that if they went back."

They cried together, neither speaking for several minutes, and then Daryl stood up and walked over to her. "I didn't find your sister. I followed a bunch of tracks, and it looks like they all met back up, but it was gettin' late, and I had to get back to ya."

Beth could only nod. She couldn't believe he was gone, and she couldn't imagine how Maggie would feel knowing the truth. It would be worse, though, to never know what had happened, she reasoned.

He was such a good man, and he made Maggie so happy. Now, she'd lost him just months after losing Daddy, and she probably thought Beth was dead, too.

Daryl picked her up and carried her back to the fence. She went under and walked to the cabin with him behind her. She knew that he'd never tell her the whole story of finding his walker body and having to kill him, but she didn't need to know. All that really mattered was that they had lost another member of their family.

"I'll find her for ya," he promised as he walked up beside her.

"She's gonna need us."

"Don't know about needin' me, but she's gonna need ya. You're all she's got left."

Those words haunted Beth's thoughts all night long as she lay beside Daryl. He wasn't sleeping all that well. Several times he woke up gasping and looked over at her. It was almost like he was making sure she was still there.

She knew the feeling.

Once he was back to sleep, she walked over the table where her calendar lay, and in small, neat letters she wrote "Glenn" in the box for May twenty-first.

* * *

He wanted to fuckin' punch somethin'. She'd kept him from leaving the last few days because she was worried about him goin' out on his own, but he refused to let her go with him. He had lost damn near a week with all her hovering.

He held a lot of guilt for not being there sooner to run into whoever had dropped Rick's hat. He knew it was Carl, though, and he blamed himself for being so wrapped up in creating some romantic gesture to prove to Beth that he was crazy about her that he wasn't there to help him. Ain't no way that boy would have let it go on his own. There was no blood near it or trailing off, so he hoped that he'd gotten away.

The hat was now tucked away in his saddlebag on his bike along with all the shit he'd went around to get that day. He still wore the gauze on his fingers and avoided all Beth's attempts to help him take care of the injury.

"We ain't gonna find 'em sittin' around here with our thumbs up our asses, Beth. I gotta go and track 'em."

"What happens if ya don't come back?" She slammed down two cans of food on the counter. "Ya just want me to sit here and hope for tha best? If ya go, I go."

"Damn it, woman, I waited here long enough for ya to come to your senses about this. Ya cain't stop me." He walked out the door and started for the side of the fence where their vehicles were.

He heard her follow him out, but she stayed on the porch.

"Ya leave without me, Daryl, and ya better get comfy in a tree, because I'm barrin' this door and won't let ya back in."

"Like hell ya can keep me out." He laughed and went under the fence.

He felt like shit all day as he searched around Minden. He'd brought their truck, but he tracked them on foot most of the day. Judging from the human tracks he'd seen, he determined there were six people in their camp. Now they were a group of five that had just suffered a terrible loss, so he figured that they were holed up somewhere just trying to keep it together.

Daryl found nothing, though. It was like they'd just disappeared.

When he made it back to the cabin, Beth had barred the door. Even though she was mad, she'd left him a container of food on the porch railing that he gladly ate before he fell asleep in the sleeping bag she'd also left outside. He was gone the next morning before she woke up and still had no luck finding any sign of them even though he'd expanded the area he was searching.

He thought about Beth the whole time he was gone. He knew she was angry with him, and she had a right to be. She was more than capable of taking care of herself and would have been good at looking for signs of the others, but he just kept seeing Glenn over and over in his thoughts, and he couldn't risk it. There was be no way he'd be able to go on if something happened to her, and he didn't want her to have to take care of him should he get bit or turn.

Two nights of sleeping on the porch caught up with him. and on the third day, he didn't head out to look again. Instead, he waited until he heard her moving around inside the cabin, and he knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" she asked politely.

"Ya know damn good and well who it is," he muttered, leaning his head against the door. "I'm sorry." He heard her remove one board. "I shoulda taken ya with me." Another one moved. "I was an asshole." The last two scraped against the door, and she pulled it open.

"I missed ya." She moved to let him in.

"Missed ya, too."

As they were eating breakfast, Beth asked, "Any sign of 'em?"

Daryl shook his head and told her about what he'd discovered on the past two trips he'd taken—which wasn't much at all.

"Maybe they're still running in the other direction, ya know? I mean, after the prison, we didn't stop running for what felt like hours."

"Could be."

"Ya wanna go look today?"

He thought about it and then shook his head. "I need to go out and check the snares. It's been a couple of days and ya know how fast walkers snatch up whatever gets caught."

Beth nodded and stood up from the table. "I'll go with ya."

Daryl cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry again. I was just shook up from it all and didn't want ya near it."

"I know." She walked over to him and sat on his lap. "Why do ya think I didn't follow ya?" Beth palmed his cheek and turned his face to hers. "Sometimes ya get so lost up here." She touched his temple.

"I cain't believe I cain't find 'em."

"At least we know they're close by." She ran her fingers through his hair and sighed. "Things will be okay."

He wondered how she managed to hold it together so well and remembered not too long ago he was bitching at other people about their depressing outlook on things. He used to be zen. What the fuck happened?

Beth, and with her, the realization that he finally had something he couldn't stand to lose.

Daryl scrubbed a hand over his face and tapped her hip with his hand.

"Get up, woman. Let's go see about getting us some rabbit."

"Or pizza." She winked when he looked her way.

"Next time we're out, I'll rob ya a Pizza Hut, okay?"

The moan that escaped her gave him other ideas completely.

"I would love you forever if ya got me some stuff from there. God knows what kinda preservatives are in there to keep it good for so long, but I don't care." She licked her lips. "Garlic dippin' sauce, Daryl. Mmmm-hmmm."

He was ready to go looking for a Pizza Hut right then when she picked up his bow and handed it to him.

"Next time we go to town. Promise me." She held out her pinkie, but he just stared at her. "You're supposed to link yours with mine. It's an unbreakable pact."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow but did it anyway.

"Now you're stuck bringin' me expired marinara and pizza crust for tha rest of your life."

He found that he didn't mind that too much at all, and that brought him back to the original intention of his big trip days before. If he hadn't gone, he wouldn't know the others were close and he wouldn't have been able to take the burden of putting down Glenn instead of Maggie finding him and seeing him like that.

Even with the dark cloud of Glenn's death hovering over them, he knew that the only way to survive in this world was to remember the fallen and keep moving forward.

With that in mind, he made a side trip to his bike before following her out into the woods to look for game.

* * *

They had been walking for a few minutes when Daryl started fidgeting with his bow strap. She ignored it, thinking he was just full of nervous energy or stressing himself over looking for the group again soon. There wasn't anything she could do to ease his tension. That would only happen when he knew for sure what had happened to the others.

They should have looked harder when it was cold, but after what happened with those men, neither was too concerned with getting out more than needed or finding more than what they could use to survive.

It was selfish of them, but for a few months, they were content and safe.

Beth glanced over at Daryl, admiring the scruffy line of his jaw and way his hair was pushed back off his forehead. She cut it regularly now, and it looked the way it had when she first met him. She loved it like that, especially since it was getting a little sun-bleached from being outside. She contained a sigh and looked away. He might not be a pretty man, but he was sure a handsome one.

They continued on in silence for a while longer while Beth appreciated the view. Her job was to keep an eye out for walkers or people. He was doing the same, but he was a lot better at it than she was. She told herself to pay closer attention and stop daydreaming about Daryl Dixon, but she failed.

It was only when he spoke that she stopped the scene she was playing out in her head. "I, uh"—he cleared his throat—"I got ya somethin' the other day."

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a little velvet bag. Beth reached out and he dropped it in her hand like it was on fire. Daryl went back to toying with his strap and looking away. "Just thought ya'd like it," he muttered.

Beth pulled the strings and tipped the bag over, genuinely curious as to what little treasure he'd found and wanted to bring her. Never in a million years did she expect the small ring that landed in her hand. It was silver, but she knew it wasn't actually silver, it was probably white gold or platinum with little diamonds on the band leading up to a square-cut diamond that sparkled when the sun hit it. It was beautiful and simple, and she couldn't even think. She just stared at it in her palm, wondering what in the world it meant or what she was supposed to say.

He hadn't asked her anything, but why would he bring her a ring unless it was _that_ kind of ring?

She must have been silent for too long because Daryl reached for the ring, but she pulled it back.

"If ya don't want it, that's fine." He was chewing on his thumbnail and looking anywhere but at her. "Fuckin' terrible idea," he ground out.

"I want it," she said, staring back down at the ring. "I, just—Daryl what does this mean?"

"What tha fuck ya mean?" His brow was creased and he was looking down at his boots. "It's a ring. I broke a damn jewelry case for that bastard."

Beth laughed softly and shook her head. This was not how she ever imagined being proposed to. She wanted to shake him and tell him to grow a pair when he started talking again.

"Cain't do thangs like before, so I guess it ain't like a promise. I ain't askin' ya to, ya know, have a big ceremony one day. I'm... I'm—" Daryl ran a hand over his jaw and finally looked into her eyes. "I care a lot about ya, and I want ya to know how much and to know how I see ya in my life."

"Ya wanted to do this for me?" Beth bit her lip and felt her eyes water.

"Ya and me are different." He shrugged. "I'd be fine with the way thangs are forever, and I'd know what we were to each other here." He placed a hand on his chest. "Ya would have known, too, but ya'd like to have somethin' ya could see, too."

Beth nodded because he was absolutely right.

"So, you're askin' me to marry you?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes. "Just said we cain't have a real weddin'. I want to call ya my wife."

She smiled so big as his ears pinked. He didn't like to say things like this, and he'd gone so out of his comfort zone for her it was ridiculous. The man couldn't say the words without shifting around and he hadn't even said _I love you_, but when he looked at her, she knew that in his eyes, the sun rose and fell with her.

"I want that, too."

Daryl's lips turned up in that half-grin she loved, and he whispered, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Daryl brushed off his nose and looked out over the woods. "Guess we better get to finding those snares. Done walked past 'em twice." He took a few steps and turned when she didn't follow. "C'mon, woman."

"Daryl Dixon, ya get over here and put this ring on my finger."

He licked his lips as he walked toward her and picked up the ring from her palm. His calloused fingers slid over her hand, causing her to shiver. Then in a simple movement, he slid it down her left ring finger.

He held her hand and nodded. "Looks good." Then he linked their fingers and turned around, pulling her along behind him.

She followed silently, biting her lip to keep all the excited squeals inside, but she couldn't stop the slight bounce in her step.

* * *

A/N: Be gentle with me.


	16. Chapter 15

Ch. 15

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.

Thank you Jen for editing this and your flails! And thank you to all of you who are reading and reviewing!

This chapter earns its 'M' rating again.

I'm curious, so here's a quick question: do you like reading smut or do you skim it?

* * *

He didn't want to look back at her because he didn't want her to see the huge grin on his face.

It was stupid, but he was self-conscious, and he'd just said a whole lot more than he'd planned to. Daryl should have known better than to expect her to just put the ring on and let it be. Even with all the talking, he couldn't help feeling like his chest was all puffed up with pride.

Beth squeezed his hand, and he turned his head to glance over at her.

"Ya think we're safe out here? Ya seen any tracks or heard any walkers?"

Daryl squinted at her and then went back to looking over the area. "Ain't seen any walker tracks that were new. Some were a few days old, but they were back that way." He pointed over his shoulder. "We're as safe as we can be, I guess." He wasn't sure why she was asking. He'd make sure they were all right.

"Good."

Her hands were on his shoulders, and she pushed him back against the nearest tree. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, pulling on the buckle of his belt. He had barely responded to the kiss when she dropped down to her knees in front of him.

"Oh, hell." He looked down and watched her pull his jeans down his legs and begin to stroke his semi-hard dick. He was so torn. He didn't like her kneeling in front of him like that—but he kinda did. His dick grew harder with each movement of her hand, and he stopped caring if it was right or wrong to like seeing her down there before him. Daryl leaned his head back against the tree and fought the urge to tangle his hands in her hair and pull her mouth down on him.

This wasn't new; she'd done this to him before, but never like this. They'd been laying in bed together before. Now, he was looming over her. He peeked down at her and met her gaze as she licked him.

He groaned when she took him fully in her mouth, and he fisted his hands at his side. His bow was digging his back as he pushed himself harder against the tree, but he didn't even give a shit about the pain. All he could even pay attention to was her bobbing along his dick, sucking him hard.

Beth's hand trailed up his thigh, and she reached out and took his hand, uncurling it and bringing it to her hair. She pulled off him but took him in her hand. "Ya can," she whispered. "I don't mind."

"Christ," he moaned, wrapping his hands in her hair as she went back to sucking him off.

He pulled her hair to the side and watched, fucking mesmerized by the sight of her lips moving over him. He was getting so close, but he didn't want it to end like this, so he tugged her to stand and turned them so her back was against the tree.

She kicked off one boot and tugged one of her legs out of her jeans. He would have laughed at how silly she looked half dressed, but wasn't nothing funny about how wet she was after blowing him.

Daryl reached down to remove his knife from its sheath then stabbed it into the side of the tree where he could reach it if he needed to. His forearms caged her in, and he leaned down to take her lips.

"Ya liked doin' that?" he asked as he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and nodded. "Gonna have to tell me if I start hurtin' ya." He lined them up and thrust inside her hard. "Gonna fuck ya so good, girl," he whispered against her jaw, and her head fell back.

His bow was rattling around with each stroke, but he wasn't about to stop and take it off. It sorta made it seem wilder, especially when he saw the knife gleam out of the corner of his eye.

She moaned and clenched down around him as he picked up the pace a little more.

"Ya back okay?" He panted against her shoulder.

"Yeah." Her fingers were digging into the skin of his neck, and he pulled back to look at her face, feeling her get close. "Harder. I can take more."

Her eyes closed, and he leaned against her, keeping her pinned to the tree so he could moved faster.

"Keep those eyes open, baby. Ya makin' so much fuckin' noise." He tilted her hips a little and pulled her down on him with more force, causing her to moan louder. "Cain't look for walkers when I'm fuckin' ya like this. Don't wanna get my ass bit."

Beth nodded and started tugging on his hair, pulling his face away from her shoulder, and kissed him, her tongue tracing his lips and tangling with his own. When she got going, she could be so fuckin' eager, and when she was close to coming, she had a one-track mind and got so damn sloppy with her kisses and her cries.

It drove him crazy.

"Got my dick so fuckin' hard with those sounds, Beth." It was the first time he said something like that against her lips instead of her cheek or jaw or shoulder. "Come on me, baby. Get me wet."

Beth threw her head back, completely ignoring the need to keep a lookout.

She was about to come. He could tell because she clenched down on him and started speaking in fucking gibberish. Bunch of stuff like 'yeah,' 'oh,' 'don't stop,' and 'please, baby.'

"Play with yaself." He circled his hips and watched as she took a hand from his hair and slid it down his shirt-covered chest to where they were connected, her ring sparkling when she turned her hand just right.

It didn't take long before she was gasping and trembling around him. He joined her a few thrusts later as he pulled her down on him and stilled deep inside her. His forehead was on her shoulder and he hands flexed against her ass.

"Damn, girl." He kissed her neck and set her back on her feet.

He fixed his jeans as he watched her right her own clothes and put on her boot. Daryl leaned in for another kiss as he reached and pulled his blade from the tree and put it back on his hip.

"Mmmmm," she hummed against his lips and sighed. "That was amazin'."

As he backed away, she closed her eyes and leaned against the tree. Her hair was fucking mess and her lips were red and swollen.

"Ya look like a fuckin' wet dream," he mumbled.

She smiled and opened her eyes. "Charmer."

Daryl took her hand and continued on their way to his snares. Beth tugged his hand up and kissed his knuckles. "I love ya."

He nodded, keeping his eyes forward.

* * *

There were no rabbits or squirrels to eat.

Had they been there a day before, early in the morning, they might have had a rabbit, but the poor thing had been destroyed by a walker. For some reason, she thought it would be more humane if they had eaten it as opposed to how it had died.

"Well, that fuckin' sucks." He kicked the rope and looked away.

Beth shrugged. It did, but it was too late to be upset about it. "It'll be okay. We got plenty of canned stuff at the cabin."

"Ya need meat." He paused, staring at her. "We need the protein."

"I'll make some beans tonight then. They got protein, too. How do ya think vegans survive?"

"They shouldn't," he snarked and started to walk away. "Cain't use that rope anymore. Ain't no animal with any sense gettin' close to something that smells like that."

"Cain't we wash it?"

"Ain't worth tha effort. I got more."

They walked in silence while Daryl sulked.

"You're awful surly for a man who just got laid."

Daryl turned toward her and cracked a smile. "Just wanted to have something good for dinner is all."

She nodded and kissed his cheek.

He wanted to have something special because of what today had meant for them, and it was probably aggravating him to no end that he couldn't find anything. On the way back to the cabin, Daryl never let go of her hand, playing with the ring on her finger and twisting it from side to side. She almost sighed out loud several times because when he thought she didn't notice, he'd look down at her hand and smile. It just about melted her heart.

"Think that tomorrow we'll go and look around the place where I lost their tracks. We need to try and find some more gas, too. All these trips are drainin' us, and we need some in case we gotta get away fast."

"That sounds good to me. How are tha walkers out there?" She slid under their fence and waited for him on the other side.

"They move faster, and they're travelin' in herds more."

Beth took his hand again when he stood up beside her. "So if we see one, we better start movin' 'cause there are prolly more?"

"Yeah. We ain't gonna take no chances."

"We should probably look for cots or more sleepin' bags in case we do find 'em."

Daryl laughed and nudged her with his shoulder. "Ya ain't gonna let 'em have tha bed?"

She felt her cheeks heat up, which made no sense considering what they'd just done, and said, "Maybe tha first few nights but not forever."

Once they were inside, Daryl went to the bathroom to clean up and Beth started to pull things together for dinner. She heated up some ranch style beans and made some brown rice. Tomorrow, she'd look for some spices, too. They might not have a wide variety of things, but at least she could add some flavor.

Daryl came out a few minutes before the rice was done, so she told him to watch it while she ran inside to wash off. The water was cold, but after being out in the sun all day, it felt sorta nice.

When she came back out, she picked up some clean clothes and changed. The rice was off the stove, but Daryl wasn't inside. She figured he was checking the fence before they turned in for the night, so she went about making their bowls of food. She noticed his bow was gone, but he always took it when he went out, so she didn't think too much about it.

When he wasn't back after several more minutes, she started to get a little worried, so she looked outside and saw that he wasn't anywhere near the cabin. When the sun began to set, she stood on the porch wringing her hands and watching for movement in the tree line.

With the last rays of light filtering through the trees, she heard him say her name quietly from her right.

"I'm gonna kill ya, Daryl!" She rushed off the porch with their flashlight and slapped his shoulders. "Damn ya. Cain't ya knock on tha door and say, 'Beth, I'ma head out for a minute.'?"

She noticed his hands were covered in blood, but he was smiling. "Saw a deer out tha kitchen window, didn't have time to tell ya. Grabbed my bow and took off after it. Tracked him across tha road before I could get a good shot."

He reached under the fence and dragged the deer over beside them. He pulled it up near the porch, and she realized that he'd already cleaned it.

"Gotta cover my tracks. Not all tha way back, but about halfway. Won't take too long. Get tha leftover grease and flour we got and when I get back, I'll fry ya some deer meat." He kissed her quickly. "Ain't got no gravy, but it'll do, right?"

"Yeah, babe." She ran her hand over his jaw. Her chest filled with an overwhelming love for him and his sweetness. "It'll be great!"

He grinned and got to work, and she went to gather everything up.

Daryl was back soon after the sun set and started getting the meat ready. Beth barred the door and sat cross-legged on the bed, watching him heat the grease and coat the thin strips of meat in flour.

They had a lot of meat, and she was upset that it would probably go bad before they could eat it all, but what they could eat that night and the next day would be so beneficial to them.

"Hot damn." He jumped away from the stove, shaking his hand after grease popped up and hit him while dropping mean into the skillet.

She laughed, and he turned toward her and smirked. "Smells really fuckin' good. Ain't had deer in months..." His voice trailed off so she barely heard it. "You've been without longer."

"Makes no difference now. I got ya cookin' for me. This is probably a million times better than what ya had. Plus, ya got some much better company."

"That's tha truth." He turned back to the food and flipped the meat over.

She was looking down at her ring, still amazed at all had happened between them that day. She wondered if she found a ring for him, would he wear it? Probably not. Aside from that necklace made of walker ears, she hadn't actually seen him wear any type of jewelry.

"If I found ya a ring, would ya wear it?" she asked, deciding to just throw caution to the wind this once.

Daryl snorted. "Not a chance."

Beth shrugged and tried not to let her feelings get hurt. She already knew what he would say. He just wasn't the type of man who would wear a ring, and it had nothing to do with him wanting to appear a certain way. He just probably couldn't stand the feel of it.

"Oh well," she said and walked to the table.

He glanced over at her and asked, "That all? Ya ain't gonna pitch a fit?"

"Daryl, I don't pitch fits."

He set the food on the table and took a seat. "Just popped off, ya know?"

"It's okay." She picked up a piece of deer meat and took a big bite. "Oh my God," she moaned, mouth full of food.

"Nice." He smirked and dug in.

After nearly the whole bowl of strips was gone, Daryl leaned back in his chair, brought his right hand up, and started sucking the leftover grease off the tips of his fingers.

She stared at his mouth and blushed. "That's absolutely sinful," she muttered.

He smirked and rubbed his hand on his jeans before starting to do the same thing to his left hand. Beth noticed his gauze was gone, and she almost missed the mark on his left ring finger as he yanked his hand down fast.

"What was that?" she asked, moving around the table to grab his hand.

He shrugged as he let her take it. "Just somethin' I figured ya'd like."

Beth traced over the lowercase _b_ near the base of his finger and grinned. "Much better than a ring."

"Yeah, we ain't gotta sit here and look at it. It ain't goin' nowhere."

Beth walked back to her seat and took another bite of food. "How'd ya do it?"

"Very carefully."

She rolled her eyes and pushed away her plate. "Let's go to bed. Since ya don't want to talk about it, let me show ya how much I like what ya did."

As she passed him, she let her hand drift over his shoulders. He hadn't moved, so she took off her shirt and tossed it over his head.

"Get to movin', Dixon."

He shot up and practically tackled her to the bed. She smiled into his kiss and knew she was in for a long night.

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, he knew he'd slept later than he had in months. The sun was glaring through the window and shining right in his eyes. Daryl rolled over on his stomach, reaching out his arm to pull Beth back to him, but she wasn't there.

"Rise and shine," she whispered against his neck, and he smiled into the pillow.

"No,"he mumbled, grabbing her fast and pulling her down beside him.

Beth laughed and threw her arms around his neck.

"Wanna wash some clothes before we go. It's a pretty day, so come with me to tha creek."

He groaned, rolled over, and sat up, grabbing his jeans off the floor. He pulled them on and started to look for his shirt. He knew that Beth was sitting, watching him, and he peeked over his shoulder at her and grinned.

"What?" She stood up and straightened her shirt.

"Ya stare."

"Ya do, too."

He shrugged and tossed on his vest before picking up her little laundry basket and heading out the door.

Beth washed the clothes fast, and then he helped her hang them on the line he'd rigged up between two T-posts in the yard. Everything about the day was so normal and domestic. He wondered to himself a lot over the course of that hour or so with her just when he'd become this guy.

He was still rough and sometimes crude, but he also got Beth to fall in love with him, so maybe he wasn't all terrible. The way she smiled at him told him he had some good inside him.

As he straightened his shirt over the wire, Beth came over and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling into his chest. She looked up, and he dipped his head down to kiss her.

She hummed against his lips and took his hand, lacing their fingers together before turning, putting his hand on her right shoulder, and leading him back to the cabin. When she reached the door, she faced him and tangled her hands in his hair before bringing him down into a slow kiss.

He had her pressed to the door, pulling her hips toward him and grinding against her. She giggled softly as she turned the doorknob, causing them both to stumble inside. Once he regained his footing, he kicked the door shut, smirking as she started to undo his shirt.

"Cain't get enough of me, can ya?" he teased as he unbuttoned her jeans.

"Ya so smug." Beth kissed his chest as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders.

"Damn sure am." He dragged her jeans and panties down her legs then gripped her ass. "Jump up, woman."

He didn't have to say it twice.

* * *

"Did I just hallucinate?"

The group stood in the trees, gaping at the small cabin with the makeshift fence. Rick cleared his throat and looked away from the front door that had been slammed shut moments ago.

"Someone needs to answer me because I swear I just saw my baby sister lead Daryl Dixon into that cabin, and I know they weren't goin' in there to play checkers."

Carl kicked the leaves at his feet. "I guess we just wait until they're done?"

"Well, do you plan on goin' and knockin' on that door?" Michonne asked, giving Carl a sidelong look. She knew he had the sweetest crush on Beth Greene, and this probably broke his little heart.

"Uhhh, no," he answered and turned away.

"We wait," Rick said and leaned back against the tree. He scanned over each face and noticed that Carol was particularly quiet. "When they come back out, we'll holler at 'em."

"I have no words," Maggie whispered, eyes still fixed on the cabin. "None."


	17. Chapter 16

Ch. 16

Disclaimer: I don't own TWD.

Thank you so much for all the reviews last chapter! I loved reading them!

Thank you Jen328 for editing this :) ILY, Yoda.

* * *

"Good Lord, woman, ya tryin' to kill me." He ran a hand down her naked back.

"It's a good way to go." She smiled and closed her eyes.

"I'd say that would have been the case before dyin' meant turnin' into a walker." He sat up on the edge of the bed and threw the blanket off her, exposing her body to him. He smacked her ass and stood up. "We really gotta get goin'. Won't be able to make it to their trail today, but we can go to that army surplus store we passed in Leon."

"Ya make me feel guilty." She pouted and scooted across the bed. She was too tempting, moving toward him like that with her tits swaying a little.

Daryl swallowed thickly and picked up his jeans. He was getting hard again, and she wouldn't have to try too long before he'd see what a good idea it was to get back in bed. Instead, he cupped her jaw and kissed her softly. "Get up, baby."

In minutes, they were dressed and ready to go out to the truck. He was the first one out and down the steps, and she followed behind him, pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail. "Cain't do nothin' to my hair after ya mess with it like ya do," she mumbled into his back when he came to sudden stop in front of her.

"Holy shit," he whispered.

Beth immediately stepped around him to see what was happening, and when she did, she slapped her hand over her mouth and then ran for the fence. Daryl chased after her, sliding under the fence just seconds after her.

"Maggie!" she yelled.

"Quiet down, woman," he said as he reached her side.

She pulled her sister into a hug, and he looked over the rest of the group.

Rick, Carl, Michonne, Carol, Judith, Maggie.

Beth was hugging Maggie to the side and when they pulled apart, he saw why. She was pregnant. Very, very pregnant.

"Girl, ya gonna pop," he said, taking in just how big she was. They had some preparing to do.

"Daryl!" Beth whispered sharply. "Ya look beautiful, Maggie. I don't know how ya gonna get under the fence though."

"I'll manage," she said quietly, eyeing Daryl.

He turned from them and looked over at Rick. They did a handshake back-slap hug thing before he reached to shake Carl's hand. The boy took it after a few seconds but didn't meet his eyes.

"How'd y'all find us?"

"Carl saw ya last night with the deer. We were gonna follow ya then, but we had a safe place for the night and weren't sure how long it would take to find ya," Rick answered, glancing over at the women who'd circled around Beth.

"So?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes. "So?"

"We happened to catch a little of the show before y'all went inside."

He gripped his bow strap and stared straight into Rick's eyes. "So?"

Rick raised an eyebrow. "Did this start before or after the prison fell."

"Don't really matter. We're together. That's that."

Rick shrugged and looked down at Carl. "Ya got room for us?"

"Always. Been lookin' for ya." Daryl patted Carl's shoulder. "Found your hat. Don't understand how y'all disappeared like that. It's like ya just vanished."

"We found a car and took off. Shit went downhill way too fast. We weren't even able to go back to see about Glenn until…"

"Yeah."

"So it was you," Maggie said, cutthing through what Rick was about to say. "Figured it was someone we knew. No one else would've taken the time to do what you did for him."

Daryl shuffled around and shrugged, avoiding Beth's questioning glance.

"Why don't ya take 'em inside, Beth? Get 'em some of that deer meat. Maggie's gonna need it." He touched her hand as she passed him. "I'll tell ya what I hear later."

"How ya know what I was thinkin'?"

"Ya nosy."

Beth laughed and flipped him off, sliding under the fence first and then helping Maggie under.

Carl started to walk to the fence after the women were halfway across the yard, but stopped and looked back at Daryl, saying, "Don't know why ya couldn't have messed around with someone your own age. Couple more years and she'd have seen me as more than just a friend."

Daryl smirked and chewed his thumbnail. "Ya got some balls, boy."

"Carl," Rick warned, giving him a steely glare.

"What? Carol pines away for him, and he gets Beth. It sucks." Carl moved toward the fence again, but Daryl grabbed his arm.

"Hey!" Rick's voice was raised, but not so that the women would hear on the porch.

"Oh, please, I ain't gonna hit 'im." Daryl rolled his eyes and pulled Carl to him. "Ya can be her friend from here until ya die, but it doesn't go further."

Carl pulled his arm away and glared at him. "I ain't stupid. I saw how she was with ya."

"All right, then. Ya done?"

The boy just shrugged and for a moment, Daryl felt bad, but if he was gonna bow up like a man, he could get talked to like one.

"Yeah."

"Get ya some food and then we're goin' to check the snares and reset 'em."

He nodded, slipped under the fence, and walked toward the cabin. The door was open; Daryl could hear Beth's laugh and he smiled.

"It's serious then?" Rick asked, his voice full of shock.

"Yeah."

Rick shook his head. "Maggie's gonna give ya hell."

"Expectin' it." He met Rick's eyes and saw the tight smile he was giving him. "Where ya been?"

He looked away. "Place called Terminus."

* * *

"How did y'all find each other?" Beth asked as she portioned out food to Carol, Michonne, Maggie, and Carl. She even cut up some small pieces and put a bowl in front of Judith.

"Me and Glenn were together after everythin' happened, and then we found Tyreese and Carol with Judith a couple of months later. We all holed up in a house out in pasture away from everythin'. Glenn and Tyreese would go out on runs, and one day, Tyreese didn't make it back." Maggie cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "We found Rick, Carl, and Michonne after those big explosions. One night, a few days later, I guess, we got surprised by a herd." Beth wrapped her arms around her sister as she openly cried. "Glenn tried to draw them off. I can't really run all that well." She motioned to her stomach. "We went back for him when he didn't show up at the meeting spot, but he was gone," she finished in a whisper.

"I'm so sorry." Beth hugged her tighter.

Maggie hiccupped as she continued to cry. "I wasn't ready for him to go, and I never, ever thought he would."

Michonne and Carol both busied themselves with eating as Beth continued to hold a sobbing Maggie.

"Ya eat then go lay down in the bed. I cain't imagine ya been comfortable lately."

Maggie wiped her eyes and snorted. "I think I'll sleep on the floor. No tellin' what ya'll bein' doin' in that bed."

Beth flushed and her jaw dropped. "I'll have ya know that I washed those sheets two days ago in the creek."

"I'll have ya know that I caught ya steerin' him toward the house while we were walkin' up." Maggie laughed through her tears. "Oh, Bethy, your face!"

Beth cupped her cheeks, trying to cool them down.

"So, you and Daryl?" Michonne asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes," Beth said quietly.

"Is it serious?" Maggie asked. "He's not takin' advantage of you, is he?"

Beth scoffed. "Daryl wouldn't do that. Besides, I sorta made the first move, if ya must know."

Maggie's eyes widened and she pushed Beth's shoulder. "Girl!"

Without much thought, Beth reached across the table to clear off the empty plates. Carol's hand shot out and grabbed her hand. "What's this?" Her voice was just a whisper.

Beth broke out in a big grin as she looked down at her ring. "Daryl gave it to me."

Maggie yanked her hand out of Carol's grasp and gasped. "Ya kiddin' me! He asked ya to marry him."

Beth shrugged and turned to the sink. "Somethin' like that."

"I'ma need more than that, baby sister."

She bit her lip and shook her head. "That's all you're gettin'."

Daryl and Rick walked in and Beth set to work getting them bowls of food, as well. Daryl didn't sit beside her or even touch her, but she didn't expect him to. He wasn't one to show affection publicly, but she imagined he'd get better as he got more comfortable being around the others.

"So, you and my little sister, Dixon?" Maggie quirked up an eyebrow. "My daddy'd have your balls."

Daryl flushed and looked down at his food. "Ain't doin' nothin' wrong."

"Uh-huh." Maggie smirked. "Ya gonna make an honest woman outta my Bethy?"

He put down his empty bowl and gripped the strap of his bow. "Done that," he said and nodded. Carol's eyes widened as she saw his left hand, and then she looked away. Maggie tilted her head to the side as she looked at his ring finger and raised an eyebrow. "Get ya shit, Carl, we're going out."

"Snares?" Beth asked, watching him fiddle with his knife at the door while he waited for Carl.

"Yeah."

She nodded and took his bowl to the sink.

"We'll be back soon," he muttered and Beth looked over at him. He gave her the briefest of smiles and then left.

After several seconds of awkward silence, Maggie cleared her throat. "So, where do we sleep? I'm beat."

"Ya take the bed, Maggie." She looked at Carol. "Ya and Judith could probably sleep on there with her."

"I done told ya, I ain't sleepin' where y'all just been," Maggie huffed and stood.

"Lord have mercy, Maggie. We weren't in the bed earlier." She yanked the covers back and moved the pillows, keeping her eyes off her sister so she wouldn't know she was lying. It wasn't that big of a deal. Neither one of them were dirty. There weren't any wet spots on the bed and they'd used a condom, so it wasn't like Daryl's stuff was all over the sheets.

Maggie stopped and laughed. "Well, where were ya so I know where to avoid."

"All ya need to know is this bed is fine. Now lay ya pregnant self down and sleep well for once."

Once she had Maggie situated, she turned and looked at the others, who were carefully avoiding her gaze. When she was nervous, she rambled, and for some reason, they were making her very, very nervous.

"We were supposed to go out and get some more sleepin' bags and maybe some cots earlier, but y'all showed up. I imagine tomorrow we'll go for things and more supplies. The garden is comin' in nicely, and I'll can what we harvest."

Beth went to the Tupperware boxes along the wall and opened the one labeled 'blankets and towels.' "Y'all can shower if ya want. It's cold though. We got three sleepin' bags and lots of blankets, so y'all just pick what ya want."

"Thanks, Beth," Rick said as he passed by her.

"You're welcome." She was twisting her ring, watching everyone get settled, and she felt so out of place in her own house. "I'm just gonna wait outside."

The sun was setting, and she sat on the railing, leaning her head back against the corner post. She was tempted to go inside and get Judith to play with since it had been so long since she'd held her, but Carol didn't seem too keen on the idea of letting her go any time soon.

She felt like something was off with the group, but maybe it was just because they'd been apart for so long or they just didn't know how to act with her and Daryl being together. She told herself that everything would straighten back out once they got into a routine again.

They all needed a good night's sleep, too.

When she went back inside, Carol and Judith were asleep on the bed beside Maggie. Rick was on a sleeping bag with another one beside him for Carl. Michonne was against the wall by the door in her own sleeping bag.

Beth went to the blankets and set up a pallet in front of the sink for her and Daryl. She even folded two blankets into pillows for them.

It wasn't long before Daryl and Carl walked in.

Carl nodded in her direction then went to lie down next to his dad. He'd grown a lot over the last several months. He was as tall as Rick, but still had some filling out to do. It was so strange to think of him as a man when she'd thought of him as a teenage boy the last time she saw him.

She smiled at the thought of him actually getting to grow up as Daryl finished barring the door and walked over to her. He set his bow on the counter and looked over their full cabin.

"See ya got everyone settled," he whispered.

"I had a time forcin' Maggie to take the bed. Apparently she's afraid of cooties."

Daryl laughed quietly and tugged on her hair. "Girl, ya give me somethin'?"

Beth pushed his stomach and shook her head. "Ya gonna lay down with me or ya gonna pretend to keep watch?"

His smile dimmed, and he looked away. "Ya think I'm just gonna stop bein' with ya 'cause they're here?"

"I'd hope not, but I also know you're gonna get a little flustered when they stare at ya when you're with me."

Daryl shrugged and took off his vest. "They'll get used to it. Ain't gonna change how thangs are just 'cause they think it's weird. Ya and me, we're a good thang."

"Yeah, we are." Beth sat on their blankets and pulled his belt loops so he sat beside her. "Now, cuddle me and tell me what Rick told ya."

He lay on his back, and she threw her leg over his and put her hand over his stomach. She missed touching his skin but figured he wouldn't undress like he used to with everyone around. Instead, she snuck her hand under the edge of his shirt and let her fingers settle on the skin below his bellybutton.

"They was at Terminus."

"No," she gasped.

"Yeah, said they didn't really think too much about it. Just wanted a safe place to be especially since everythin' had turned to shit. Locked 'em up in a railcar and kept 'em there for months, feeding them through a hole in the side. Wasn't a damn thang they could do. Said their car was one in the very back corner, so there were a lot of others ahead of them. It's why they made it so long.

"Don't even wanna think about what they were feedin' 'em." Daryl cringed and so did Beth. "They don't even know what happened. There was a big explosion and it rocked their car. The next one knocked 'em over and broke enough of the door for them to crawl through. They made it past the fence and ran. Endin' up climbin' a tree because they ran into walkers.

"Stayed there at least a day before gettin' down and findin' shelter. They found Maggie, Glenn, and Carol a few days later. Rick thinks it was a gas explosion that destroyed Terminus, but he doesn't think it was just accident. Thinks someone managed to set it up."

He shrugged and wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders. "Just damn glad we decided to stay here."

"Yeah. I'm glad they got out. I'm happy they're here."

Daryl nodded. "We're gonna have to find another place when it gets cold. Cain't really look all that well now, but we ain't gonna be able to stay here with so many people. I got to likin' us havin' our own space."

"Me, too. I'ma miss seein' ya naked," she whispered against his jaw and scratched her nails against his stomach.

"Ya tha devil, woman." He kissed her lips and sighed. "We gonna have to find a buncha shit for Maggie. I'm talkin' about hospital-type shit."

"Ya think it's safe?"

"This time of year? Hell naw. We ain't got much choice, though." He shook his head and played with her hair. "Tomorrow, we'll make a list and go on a run for more essentials. Ya stay here with your sister, and I'll see if Michonne or Rick'll come with me."

"I'd rather go with ya."

Neither spoke for a few seconds, and then Daryl turned his head toward her. "I ain't sayin' ya cain't come. I just think Maggie'd like to have ya here. Y'all been apart for a while. Just visit with her. Play with Judith." He ran his fingers over her cheek. "When we get back, I'll take ya for a ride on tha bike. Some place far away, deserted, and very safe." He kissed her softly then pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. He looked so serious and the glow of the fire made it all seem so romantic, like one of her old books. "Bring us a blanket and some rubbers."

Beth had to turn her face into his shoulder to muffle her laughter while his body shook with his own.

"You're such a charmer."

"Ya say that all tha time. I'm startin' to think ya bein' sarcastic."

"Oh, no. Never."

He kissed her again to shut her up then said, "Get to sleep, woman. Got a busy day tomorrow."

* * *

When Daryl woke up the next morning, Carol sat at the table, looking over Beth's calendar. He untangled his legs from Beth's, covered her up, and then went to sit across from Carol.

It had been a long time since he'd seen her, and she looked different. More worn and hardened. He wondered what had passed since he'd last seen her, but figured she wouldn't want to talk about it just like he and Beth would never mention Joe's group to them.

"How ya been?" he asked, pulling the notebook away from Carol so she'd look at him.

"About as good as can be expected." She shrugged. "Ya seem to be doin' better than the last time I saw ya. Lost some of your reasons to not get involved, did ya?" Her voice was laced with bitterness.

He shook his head. "Ain't like that."

Carol pulled the notebook back. "Don't ya worry about me, Daryl. I'm used to disappointment."

"I hate seein' ya sad," he said quietly, feeling like he was responsible for all her pain.

"Ain't really your place, is it?" She looked down at Beth.

Daryl stood and walked over to the door, not looking back.

* * *

Daryl wasn't too sure he liked the way everyone was staring at him. It was like they weren't sure what to say or if he was even the same person they knew before. He leaned against the counter and chewed on his thumbnail, trying to figure out how to make them stop being how they were being.

"I'll go with ya, Daryl," Rick said as Beth told them about making a list for supplies.

He nodded, and Beth got her notebook and started writing down things that they would need and then asked the others what they wanted.

"Ya probably gonna need to see about findin' a little extra food," she said, turning toward Daryl. "We got a lot, but it was just for us. We'll need more to feed everyone for a while."

"I'll get it," he spoke quickly, glancing over the group. It would take a lot more food to keep them full until winter, when they could go out and make a big haul.

This went on a few more minutes before he stood and went to the door. "I'ma check tha fence."

Beth was in her own world, making lists and notes. She didn't even look up at him as she said, "Water tha garden, will ya, babe?"

Daryl caught Carol's stare and knew his ears were turning pink. The look in her eyes made him pause for a moment, but then he shook his head. "Sure," he said and shut the door quietly behind him.

He walked the perimeter and prayed that Carol wouldn't do anything stupid now that they were back together. Last thing he needed was her and Beth getting into a catfight over something as stupid as him.

He had a feeling that he wasn't that lucky, though.

* * *

When she was sure that Daryl was away from the porch, Beth looked up at everyone.

"Y'all need to quit actin' like he's grown a second head. It makes him uncomfortable." It looked like Maggie was about to say something, so she pushed forward and cut her off. "Just act like y'all used to around him. Ain't nothin' changed. He's still Daryl."

"Looks like a lot has changed," Carol said, staring directly at Beth's hand.

Beth bristled at her tone and figured now was as good a time as any to establish her place in Daryl's life when it came to her, especially after hearing them talking earlier. "Some thangs have, you're right, but you're still his _friends_." No one missed the emphasis on that word, and everyone but Carol suddenly seemed to think the ground needed inspecting. "Be happy he's alive and that y'all are here."

Everyone quietly agreed, and she ignored Carol's stare and went back to her list. Who knew that having them all back together would make things so tense?


	18. Chapter 17

Ch. 17

Disclaimer: I don't own TWD.

Thank you Jen328 for editing this over your busy weekend! Thank you to all the reviewers from the last chapter and all those who are still reading :)

I've been very busy the last few days, so instead of answering the review replies, I edited this as quickly as I could and am putting it up before my daughter goes off to her first sleepover! She's thrilled. I'm not sure how I feel right now…lol

Enjoy!

* * *

Daryl was dog tired by the time he and Rick crossed the last thing off the list. There was no way he'd be able to go anywhere with Beth, either. It had taken a whole lot longer than they'd anticipated, and there had been a lot more walkers in Leon than before.

They managed to get a few cots and sleeping bags. They got some extra clothes for everyone and made a special trip to a baby store for Judith. Daryl even dragged a small mattress out of the display crib so she could sleep on it beside Rick instead of between Carol and Maggie.

He and Rick decided that they'd go to the hospital in a few days to collect some stuff that might help with Maggie's labor. They even stopped by a small bookstore downtown and found two books on natural childbirth that she might like to read.

Daryl flicked through one and grimaced. "Sounds like a form of torture."

"Seems like it," Rick answered as they walked out the doors. "Lori had a hard time with Carl. We didn't think she'd have any more."

Daryl just nodded and went to the passenger side of the car. Ain't no way he was touching the subject of Judith's birth. He wasn't one to point out the obvious, but surely even Rick knew chances of that baby being his were slim to none. Didn't really matter, though. He was the only daddy she'd ever know.

"I think after the weather cools off we're gonna have to go look for a new place," Rick said as he turned onto the road leading back to the cabin.

"Yeah, me and Beth talked about it last night," Daryl said as he looked out the window. "It'll take some scoutin', but we'll find somethin'. Maybe even head north where the winters are harder."

After a few minutes of silence, Rick said, "Never thought I'd see ya settle down with anyone. Didn't think ya liked people all that much."

"Beth ain't people," he responded quietly. "She's a good person. Lucky she puts up with me."

"God bless her for that." He seemed a little off, but Daryl didn't think too much about it. Everyone was a little off lately.

When they made it back to the cabin, Beth came out, carrying Judith on her hip.

"How'd y'all do?"

Daryl leaned across the fence and kissed her cheek. "Got all the shit ya asked for."

"That's what I like to hear." She tickled Judith's foot. "Even the spices with the funny sounding names?" She raised an eyebrow, and Rick laughed behind him.

"Yeah, even them. I expect just rewards for them seeing as how I almost got a bite taken out of my ass gettin' 'em."

Beth's eyes widened and she gave him a quick once over. "Y'all all right?"

"We're fine, Beth," Rick said as he tossed a bag over the fence. "He's done lost his touch is all."

Daryl flipped him off and grabbed another bag. "I can handle myself just fine. Where's everyone at?"

"Maggie's asleep. Carol and Michonne went to wash clothes in the creek, and Carl said he was going to check the snares." Daryl frowned, and Beth reached through the fence to take his hand. "Things are good. He'll be fine."

Not five minutes later, Carl walked up with a rabbit dangling from his belt and a smile stretched across his face.

Daryl admired the kid in a way. He'd grown up in this. While Daryl'd been raising hell with Merle at fourteen, Carl had been fortifying a prison and protecting his family.

He did wish Carl could have had more of a childhood, but he imagined Rick did, too. That was a good bit of the reason they'd moved from enforcing to farming during their last few months at the prison.

Not everything in this new world was about killing, he reminded himself.

When the supplies were out of the truck and on the porch, Daryl took Judith and gave her to Rick before pulling Beth around to the side of the cabin. He tried his best, but he couldn't totally ignore Rick's raised eyebrow and Carl's eye roll. That bothered him, but he tried to shrug it off. He needed to stop caring if they thought he was pussy whipped.

"Missed ya." He kissed her, dragging his lips across her jaw and down her neck.

"Missed ya, too." Beth gripped his arms and pulled him closer. "Ain't gonna get to go on tha bike, huh?"

"Not today. Tomorrow mornin'."

"I'm holdin' ya to it." She brought his lips back to hers, and he pulled her hips against his.

"Gotta stop," she mumbled against his lips. "We ain't alone anymore."

"Fuck 'em. I heard lots of things goin' down at tha prison."

Beth laughed and pushed him away. "Last thang Carl needs is to see ya fuckin' me against the side of tha house."

Daryl grabbed her chin and turned her face to him. "Listen to that mouth." He kissed her hard. "I'm a bad influence on ya. And just so ya know, Carl'd give his left nut for a look at your tits."

Beth gasped and slapped his hand away. "Cain't believe ya just said that. He's a kid!"

Daryl laughed and pulled her back to him. "More of a man than a kid. I tell ya what, at his age, titties were my life."

"I can see Merle givin' ya Playboys, and ya playin' with yaself under tha covers."

Daryl blushed, and Beth laughed softly before kissing him. "Don't know why I think that's precious, but I do. I sorta want to jump ya now."

"Ya like me bashful."

"I like ya, period."

A throat cleared to their right, and he looked over before mumbling, "Hey."

Carol and Michonne moved under the fence and walked toward them. "Good haul?" Michonne asked when they stood a few feet away.

"Yeah."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, and Daryl wondered how to break the tension.

Finally, Beth took his hand. "Carl brought back a rabbit, so dinner will be good."

He followed her lead and soon he was able to push away how weird it felt to have Carol stare at him with a look of betrayal in her eyes.

* * *

"I've been meaning to talk to ya," Carol said as she went to stand beside him on the porch. Everyone else was getting ready for bed and he'd just finished checking the fence.

"'Bout what?" He chewed on his bottom lip and looked over the yard. He hated feeling like he had done something to her, and he could tell that Beth felt off around her. All through dinner, Beth glanced over at Carol as she stood beside him near the counter.

Any other time, he'd have thought it was silly, but he knew he was causing problems. He was so fucking torn between showing he was with Beth and not hurting his friend, who he knew cared about him in a more-than-friendly way.

"Are ya sure that you're with Beth for tha right reasons?"

"Tha hell ya talkin' about, woman?" He glanced over at her as she leaned against the railing.

"Ya just ain't been around her much since we got here."

"Don't like to have people stare at me, so I don't do anythin' that would make 'em stare," he answered, scooting a little further away.

"Think maybe ya just got caught up in messin' around with a younger woman and let it go to your head. Now that we're all back together, ya rethinkin' thangs."

Daryl fiddled with his bow strap and shook his head. "Ain't like that," he muttered.

Carol shrugged. "Maybe I'm wrong, but ya ain't the Daryl I remember. She's changin' ya."

He walked past her into the cabin and tried to ignore the seed of doubt taking root in his brain.

* * *

Everyone was still asleep the following morning when he gathered things for his outing with Beth.

Sure, they could have waited, but he needed to be alone with her. It was the second night in months that he hadn't had some part of her or heard her sing or made her blush because of some lewd comment.

He missed that.

With everyone else around, he'd closed up and gone back inside himself. He liked that he didn't have to filter his thoughts with Beth or worry what she might think when he said something that wasn't fit to say around company. She let him to just _be_, and not to sound like a total pussy, he liked the guy he'd become since he'd been with her, no matter what Carol had said the night before. He was happier than he'd ever been, and a day alone with Beth would give him the boost he needed to get Carol's words out of his head. It had messed with him more than anything else that had happened to them, and he was a little mad at her for making him doubt things.

When he was done getting everything together, Daryl gently shook her shoulder and whispered against her cheek, "I'm gonna take ya for a ride."

She hummed and smiled. "Sounds nice."

"Get up, woman. Wanna leave before anyone else wakes up."

Beth stood up and stretched, her shirt riding up and showing off her stomach. He let his hand wander across the skin and licked his bottom lip.

"Did ya leave 'em a note?"

Daryl laughed quietly and led her outside. "Sure did. Said, "Be back later. Gone to fuck."

"Ya should try out sayin' something nicer sometime," she muttered, pulling up her hair. "Ya make it sound like we're just hookin' up."

He side-eyed her as she went under the fence. "What ya know about hookin' up?"

"All sorts of thangs."

"Whatever." She didn't say anything else so he walked to his bike, strapped the bag he'd packed on the back, and started pushing it through the woods. She was right beside him, humming quietly. It aggravated him to no end that she didn't keep on talking. He knew she wanted to, but she'd wait for him to break and ask. He shook his head and sighed. "What ya want me to call it?"

Beth smiled at him. "Ya can call it that, but sometimes it would be nice if ya said something nicer, more romantic."

"Like?"

"Like maybe call it 'makin' love' sometimes."

He scoffed and kicked a stick out of his way. "Only assholes say that."

Beth shrugged. "I call it that."

"Okay. Assholes and women."

"It's just the sentiment behind the words, I guess. 'Fuckin'' sounds so meaningless."

Daryl stopped walking, kicked the stand on the bike to let it rest, and moved toward her.

"What we got ain't meaningless, ya here me? Just 'cause I call it that don't mean a damn thang. Ya've said it before, too."

"I know I have, but I also know how I view it in my mind." She looked him like she was trying read his thoughts.

"So, what? Ya think I just like ya 'cause ya put out?"

The silence that followed that statement felt like a punch to his chest. Finally, Beth shook her head and whispered, "Let's just not talk about this anymore. Let's have a good day."

He started pushing the bike again, completely confused by what had just happened.

Then Carol's words from the night before passed through his thoughts.

_She's changin' ya._

* * *

Beth was straddling his lap and breathing heavily against his shoulder. She laughed softly and then kissed his jaw.

"How come you're dressed and I'm completely naked?

He ran his hands down her back. "You're prettier to look at than me."

Beth snorted and shook her head. "Whatever."

"What if walkers show up? One of us needs to be able to take care of the problem, and I sure don't like the idea of my dick swingin' around while I try and stab one of those bastards in the head. All I gotta do is push ya off, pull up my pants, and I'm good to go, baby."

She kissed up his neck, and he leaned his head back against the tree. "Ya like messin' around outside."

He nodded. "I like bein' outside. I like bein' with ya. Just makes sense to put those two thangs together."

"Daryl?"

"Huh?"

She kissed him softly then started to unbutton his shirt. When she'd exposed his chest, she laid her head against him, listening to his heartbeat beneath her ear. She turned her lips to his chest and whispered against the beat, "I love you so much. I don't know what'd I do without ya."

He was quiet for a long time then whispered against her hair, "Ya, too, girl."

She kept her emotions in check when he said the words and snuggled against him instead. In the back of her mind, though, she worried if he'd just said it because he knew she wanted him to or if he really wanted to say it.

A little while later, Daryl tapped her hip. "We need to get goin'. Gotta do some thangs when we get back to the cabin."

Beth nodded and stood up, grabbing her clothes and getting dressed as Daryl watched. His brow was furrowed and he seemed like he was deep in thought, but when she asked him, he just smiled and shook his head.

"Nothin'. Just lost up here, I guess." He motioned to his temple and stood up, packing what they'd brought.

For some reason, Beth didn't think this outing had solved anything for them.

* * *

Beth held on tightly as he navigated the bike down the highway.

She decided on the drive back that she wouldn't question him anymore about his feelings or lack of vocalizing them. Beth figured if she gave it a little more time, he'd come around.

The man have her a ring and said he thought of her as his wife. That had to carry weight. She just needed to accept that maybe Daryl came from a place that either didn't say the words or even know that was what he was feeling.

When they hopped off the bike and started pushing it through the woods, Daryl flicked her ponytail and smiled at her.

"Had a real good time with ya today."

"I did, too. I like bein' with ya."

They walked in silence until they reached the truck and Daryl propped up the bike. She was about to lean down to get under the fence when he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I, uh, I'm pretty crazy about ya, ya know?" Beth bit her lip and nodded. "Sorry I don't got better words," he muttered and looked away.

"You're words are fine," she whispered, palming his cheek, and kissed him softly.

He released her shoulder, and she scooted under the fence and waited for him to get on the other side with her.

"They ain't what ya want, though." He was biting his thumbnail and not meeting her eyes. "Ya wish I was different sometimes."

Beth reached out and grabbed his hand away from his mouth.

"No, Daryl." She shook her head and felt her eyes well up. "I love _you_. I don't want ya to change at all. I love how ya are and how ya talk to me. I just want your thoughts. Just a little look at how ya really feel when ya look at me. That we mean tha same thang."

He narrowed his eyes. "Ya don't think I feel tha same? Ya don't think I know what I feel?"

"I don't think ya know how to say it." Her honesty struck a cord because he pulled his hand away and started striding toward the cabin.

Beth wanted to stop him, wanted to calm him down, but maybe this was what he needed. Just some time to think.

She twisted her ring around her finger and let the tears spill over. She didn't know what she'd do if he realized what he meant wasn't what she meant.


	19. Chapter 18

Ch. 18

Disclaimer: I don't own TWD.

Thank you so much for editing this Jen! And thanks to everyone who is still reading and reviewing. I'd really love to hear your thoughts after this one!

* * *

It'd been two days since they got back from their trip, and he hadn't had a full talk with Beth. He'd nod in her direction when he came inside or tell her he was going to hunt or check the snares, but he avoided all her attempts to corner him and talk about what had happened after their trip.

He didn't want to talk to anyone.

On the outside, he'd fixed his "fuck 'em" look permanently across his face. Inside, he was crumbling. He'd stare at the _b_ on his finger and get so damn angry at himself. All she fucking wanted was the words, and he choked on 'em every single time. It was enough for her to doubt him. Doubt everything.

She and Carol had been going at it, too, and he knew trouble was fucking brewing there. He wasn't sure what to do to stop it from happening. Beth wanted someone to take out her anger on, and Carol wanted to pounce on the situation and go after him. He was sick of all the shit.

Fucking drama.

End of the world, and you could still count on that petty bullshit.

He walked up the porch steps and caught Carl flipping him off as he hopped over the railing.

"Fuck ya, too, boy," he muttered.

"You're so stupid, Daryl. Even I know all ya gotta do is apologize." Carl started to walk away, but he turned around and ran back to the railing. "And tell Carol to get off your dick."

"Tha fuck ya learn to talk like that?" Daryl gaped at him.

Carl rolled his eyes and muttered, "I wonder," before walking around the cabin.

Inside the cabin, Rick was sitting on his cot, pretending to read a book from the shelf, and Michonne was sharpening her knife and watching the action in the kitchen.

"It would be better if ya did it the way I showed ya. Daryl said that he liked it this way," Carol said over Beth's shoulder.

He watched as Beth's fingers flexed around the knife, and he propped his bow against the door, careful not to make much noise. He had to put a stop to Carol's mouthing soon. He just really hated the idea of having to confront her about something like this. All that fucking yammering back and forth. He thought he'd already set that shit to rights.

"Well, I don't see Daryl here cutting this shit up, so I'll do it my way," she snapped and pulled the cutting board closer to her body.

"Ain't no way to keep a man happy."

"Carol, ya should probably shut ya damn mouth," Maggie said from the bed. "Ain't like ya got experience there."

"Got more than ya think," she popped off, turning back to Beth.

"Ya know what? Screw this." Beth dropped the knife in the sink and turned around, eyes narrowing on Daryl. "Rick, ya want to go to the hospital? I think we should get Maggie's stuff. She's been having pains on and off since last night—"

"Beth! I told ya not to say anythin'!" Maggie cringed and put a hand over her stomach.

Beth quirked an eyebrow and continued. "I'd like to find her some good pain medicine for after. I read in one of those books that we'll need a few things for when the baby is born, too."

Rick looked between her and Daryl.

"Don't look at him. He ain't my daddy."

"Should spank your ass for how you're actin'," he muttered and started biting his thumbnail. "Both of y'all. Damn. Sittin' here, puttin' on a show, actin' crazy."

"You're testin' my patience, Daryl."

He hated the look in her eyes, and he hated himself even more for putting it there. She doubted him because he was pretending nothing was going on with Carol. Instead of begging forgiveness and getting down his damn knees, he smarted off again. "Ain't I always?"

She closed her eyes for a moment then looked back at Rick. "The hospital?"

"Yeah, sure. Just make a list and we'll go. It's not far, and I think you're right about tha baby comin' soon." He looked at the others. "Carol and Michonne can stay here and keep an eye out for her. Daryl can—"

"Daryl's coming, too," he said, not leaving Rick any time to give him some random job to keep him away from Beth.

"Fine." Beth walked over to Maggie, who'd stayed particularly quiet the whole ordeal, and took the book from her lap. "I'll get started on tha list. Be ready in a few minutes."

Daryl nodded and saw that everyone seemed to be avoiding him, so he figured he'd just wait outside and make it easier on them.

He wondered exactly where he went wrong with all this shit and figured it was when he gave her the ring. Not because he gave it to her but because he didn't have the balls to come right out and say what he was feeling. Hell, then he didn't even know what it was. He knew he cared about her, that he'd put her life before his own. He felt that for people at the prison though. What set her apart was everything else.

He wanted to be near her, talk to her, hear her laugh, make her smile, provide everything for her. He imagined having a family with her, and he couldn't express it in words at all. He thought he might write it down for her—tell her when it got real dark and she couldn't see his face as he scrunched up his forehead and searched for the right things to say—but he'd put it off. Then the others showed up, and now he was fucked.

He could make excuses all day, but it all boiled down to the fact that he'd failed in some way. Instead of words, he showed her with physical affection. He'd touched her and kissed her. He'd made her come as many times as he could before he got his.

Fuckin' emotionally stupid.

Of course, she would want something more than that. He'd given her what he'd given to every other woman before her. The only difference was he gave a damn if she came when it was over.

Except that fuckin' ring, and now she wasn't even sure he knew what he meant when he gave her that.

He pushed on his temples with his hands, feeling a fuckin' headache coming on. Then he thought about Carol and he groaned. She was his friend. In this fucked up world, she had been his friend the longest. He didn't want to hurt her, but the more she kept acting so fuckin' uppity around Beth, the less he cared.

Still, she'd taken shit her whole life, just like him, and he hated piling more on. He was being pulled in all different directions, and he was going to break soon.

"Ya all right?"

"Speak of tha fuckin' devil," he mumbled and looked over his shoulder. "What tha fuck ya want?"

"Just wanted to see how ya were. Things don't seem to be goin' well with ya and Beth."

She didn't look the least bit concerned, and he snorted. "Ya fuckin' think?"

"I think ya got attached to her because she was what ya thought ya had left, and now you're in over your head, and ya don't know how to get out."

Daryl rubbed a hand over his chest, trying to ease the ache there, and shook his head. It might have started that way—just a little—but he knew where he was at now. "Naw."

"Yeah. Daryl, ya gave that girl a ring. Ya tattooed her initial on your finger."

"So what? I knew what I was doin'."

She moved to stand in front of him, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

Carol shook her head and scoffed. "Ya didn't. Ya don't even get what that girl is thinkin' about. She thinks y'all are married, that you're gonna give her kids and build her a house with a white picket fence. She's got her head in the clouds, Daryl. That ain't how thangs work now. I ain't even sayin' you'd be better with me. I'm sayin' you've led this girl on by givin' her a promise ya cain't keep."

"What tha fuck are ya talkin' about? I know what I said to her. I was there, and I was there the first time we worked shit out. Ya just runnin' your damn mouth, thinkin' ya know me, but ya don't really. Hell, I don't even know me."

"Then how can ya make a decision like this?"

He shook his head and uncrossed his arms, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I know how I feel."

"How do ya feel?" She asked, coming entirely too close.

Daryl swallowed hard and met her eyes, but before he could even say anything, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and brought her lips to his.

It felt so fucking wrong, and when he heard Beth's voice drift across the yard, he knew he'd fucked up again.

* * *

She knew what she was seeing, but she couldn't quite believe it. She counted to five and watched as he didn't push her away even though he'd put his hands on her hips as though he was going to.

"Daryl?" Her voice was oddly calm, even to her own ears.

Beth watched as he jerked back, wiping his mouth off, a look of utter shock on his face. He didn't even speak, his shoulders were heaving with his labored breaths, and he took a step forward to only step right back.

"It's not what ya think," he whispered raggedly.

"Ya said that to me before about tha same exact thang. Maybe it's not what _you_ think."

"No, Beth, this—shit, girl, she came at me. I didn't react the right way. I'm sorry. I don't care about her like that."

"Ya care about her, though."

The pause seemed to last forever as he didn't deny what she'd said. He finally cleared his throat and said quietly, "She's a friend."

At that moment, all the anger and emotions that had been building rushing forward. " 'A friend'?" She charged at him, stopping right in front of him and pointing a finger in his face. "Ya don't do that to a friend, Daryl. Ya don't let a friend treat your girlfriend or wife or, hell, even a decent booty call like she's been treatin' me! What is she to ya, Daryl? And if ya say _friend__,_ so help me_,_ God!"

He paused, staring helplessly at her. "Beth, she's just a friend."

"Damn you, Daryl!" She turned and walked away.

"Hey, everythin' okay?" Rick rounded the corner with Carl at his side. Michonne held back, eyeing everyone closely.

"Friends, huh?" She looked right at Daryl and then took the two steps to Rick, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him down to her lips. She had barely touched him before he pushed her back, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I'm Rick's friend, Daryl. I didn't even get close before he put distance between us." She met Daryl's eyes and almost stopped at the fury she saw there. "Can ya say tha same?"

He clenched his jaw so tightly she saw the muscles tick. He straightened up and looked away. "I'm sorry."

Beth walked toward him, and when she was close enough, she leaned to the side to catch his gaze. "How do you feel about me?"

She'd pushed him into a corner, and he was about to lash out, but she didn't even care. This needed to be settled. It needed to be fixed. They couldn't continue on without settling it.

"Ya know how I feel about ya."

She sighed and took a step back. "I think maybe it would be good if ya stayed here while we went to tha hospital. Go huntin' or somethin' to clear your head."

"What?" He turned back toward her.

Beth tugged off her ring and slipped it on his pinky. Tears clouded her vision as he wrapped his hand into a fist, pushing the diamond into his palm.

"Beth?" His voice was soft and hurt. "Baby, I didn't—"

"Until we're for sure on the same page, just keep it." She slid her eyes over to Carol and tears fell down her cheek. "Ya need to think about things because I cain't do this. I cain't be second or feel like there's always tha chance of her comin' into our relationship. I know ya care for me, Daryl, I can feel that, but there's something there that needs to be put to rest before we can be okay."

She turned to walk away, but Daryl grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him again. "Don't fuckin' do this. Yell at me all ya want, fuckin' hit me, but don't walk away from me."

"If ya think I'd ever hit you out of anger, ya don't know me at all," she whispered, and he pulled back as if she'd slapped him across the face.

"I'll beg." Tears were welling up in his eyes.

"I don't want ya to beg, Daryl. I want this to be as easy as breathin', and it can be. ,It was."

He gripped his bow strap and looked down and then out over the fence.

Beth covered her mouth with her hand as he started yelling. Her chest felt like it was collapsing from his pain. "Fine then. Get ya ass outta here. Go on!" He held up his hand to her and tapped his tattoo with his index finger. "Got ya fuckin' under my skin, but ya still don't see it, so just get tha fuck out. Don't matter none, does it? Fuckin' spoiled princess didn't get it all her way."

Rick touched her arm, and she turned and walked away from him, toward the truck.

"And you, don't ya fuckin' touch me, ya hear?"

"Daryl," Carol's voice was calm and sure.

"No, fuck that shit. Get tha fuck on, too."

His voice dimmed as she slammed the truck door and then cradled her head in her hands. When Rick reached the road, he stopped, and she cried until she was hoarse.

Maybe she'd been to rough or quick to jump to conclusions. Then she'd remembered the day before when she'd been wrapped around him, whispering against his skin and telling him how much she loved him, and he'd kissed her and said, "Ya, too, girl." It was like he was saying it just to keep her satisfied, and she didn't like that. Maybe she _was_ being a brat.

"It shouldn't have been this way," she whispered against her hands. "Maybe I needed him to show too much? Maybe it's my fault for expectin' too much?"

Rick shook his head, staring out the front glass. "Ya need what ya need."

Beth nodded and wiped her eyes. "Let's go. Maggie's really startin' to hurt when the contractions hit. I wanna be back as soon as we can, so I can be with her through it all."

"Ya got it."

They drove in silence for a few miles before Beth turned toward him and said, "I'm sorry about bringin' ya into this mess with Daryl. Shouldn't have grabbed ya like that."

Rick smirked. "Ya definitely got his attention."

"Still, I don't want to cause problems between y'all."

Rick didn't say anything, and they fell into silence for the rest of their trip.

* * *

While she sat in the truck, Rick checked all the outside doors to the hospital to make sure the exits were available, and then they went inside. It was eerie as they quietly snuck up the side staircase to the maternity ward.

"We get in and get out," he whispered. "Ya got your list and your bag. I'll keep an eye out."

Beth nodded and walked through the open doorway onto the second floor Labor and Delivery area. It was easy to find the supply cabinet, and Rick kept watch as she stuffed aspirators, gauze, and huge sanitary pads that looked more like diapers into her bag. She found a small package of actual diapers and took those, too. The more they could get, the better.

The medicine was secured behind a door, but that lock had long since been broken, so she carefully went inside to grab the painkillers she needed. All the good stuff was long gone, but she hope that what she took would help take some of the edge off.

Her bag was nearly full when she walked back toward the door in the hallway. She spotted the receiving blankets and baby hats and grabbed multiples of those when she heard Rick's voice.

"Gotta go."

She peeked around the door and saw three walkers stumbling toward them. She sighed audibly, feeling defeated. Nothing was ever easy.

She and Rick immediately ran for the door that led to the staircase but pulled up short when several more walkers ambled in front of the opening, cutting off access to it. Rick took his knife and stabbed one in head while Beth did the same with the one closest to her. The way cleared a bit, but more walkers seemed to be showing up from all over the second floor.

"Where they all comin' from?" She pushed one away and stood back to back with Rick. She turned her head toward the doorway and saw an opening; it was small, but she slammed her pack into Rick's stomach and pushed him through to the stairs. The walkers would follow, but they'd fall down and end up piling up before catching Rick.

"Beth!" he yelled as she ducked under an oncoming walker.

"Run! I'll be okay."

Remembering everything Daryl had taught her, she nailed two walkers in quick succession before using one of their bodies to make a barrier between herself and the wall. She shuffled a few feet to an opening then ran full out toward the double doors at the end of the hall, praying to God that there wasn't anything on the other side.

* * *

Bethyl fic rec to hold you over: Warming Up by Protected by a Silver Spoon. It's brilliant and complete!


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